An Exchange of Words: David B. Coe’s Weblog

Today I’ll be posting at the blog of my literary agent, Lucienne Diver.  Lucienne and I will be exchanging ideas on the relationship between authors and agents.  Our dialog will cover different ways in which agents can help further the careers or authors, and ways in which authors can make those efforts easier.  We’ll also be answering some questions as they come in during the course of the day.

So join us and be part of the conversation.  http://varkat.livejournal.com

We’re quickly getting into summer mode here in our household. The university had its graduation nearly two weeks ago, so Nancy is already into her summer research program. My older daughter (the newly minted teenager) is now done with her school and is officially an eighth grader (Yikes!), and my younger daughter finishes up next week.

All this means, of course, that the kids are going to be around more, which tends to make writing that much more difficult. I’ve finished the copy edits on THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT and am now back at work on the STILL untitled third book of Blood of the Southlands. I might need to have a web contest: “Name the third volume!” The winner gets his or her idea splashed across the jacket of my new book…. The first book was THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE, then THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT. Right now I’m leaning toward THE AUTHOR’S NEMESIS, but I’m not sure my editor will go for that….

I’ve made good progress over the last few weeks, so I thought I’d post my second progress bar. Last time I was at 14% — 19,700 words or so. That was April 22, exactly a month ago.

I’ve made pretty good progress since then, especially if you consider that I’ve also had to travel to a con, copyedit a manuscript, and take down a photo exhibit. If I can continue to average 26,000 words a month, I’ll be done by the end of September. I can live with that; the book’s due November 1.

Today’s interviewee is Kelly McCullough, another of my friends at sfnovelists.com.  Kelly’s first novel in the WebMage series, WebMage, was released by Ace in 2006 to considerable critical praise. A second, Cybermancy, followed in 2007. His newest release, CodeSpell, will be out May 27th. And a fourth book, MythOS, is slated for late May ‘09. His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Weird Tales, Writers of the Future, and Tales of the Unanticipated. His illustrated collection, The Chronicles of the Wandering Star, is part of a National Science Foundation-funded middle school science curriculum, Interactions in Physical Science.  Enjoy!

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Today’s post, “The Copyedited Manuscript.” can be found at http://magicalwords.net/.  Visit the site and enjoy!

Today’s post, “What Kind of Jacket Art Do You Want on Your Book?”, can be found at www.sfnovelists.com.  Come visit the site.  Check out the post.  Enjoy!

By the time I reached my destination, I had a fully formed idea for vampire DJs who were psychologically and culturally ‘stuck’ in the era in which they were turned. I also knew the heroine would be “bad” in some way. (The punch line is that even though it all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change the title.)

2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

4) Why did you decide to make Ciara a con artist?

I suppose the creation of Shane is my small way of honoring Cobain’s life and work and the impact it’s had (and continues to have) on my psyche. I feel a spiritual kinship with them both and wonder if but for the grace of good fortune I’d be in as bad a shape as they were in their lives.

 What are you writing now?

10) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

Jenna Black, another of my friends from www.sfnovelists.com has just released her latest book, HUNGERS OF THE HEART, a paranormal romance from Tor Books.  Jenna is a terrific writer and has lots of interesting stuff to say about the writing process and her approach to her craft.  Enjoy!

1)What was your inspiration for writing HUNGERS OF THE HEART?

Since the first book of the Guardians of the Night series, I’ve always known I would eventually write Drake’s book. Many of my readers have also impatiently been awaiting his book since they first “met” him in WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT. As excited as I was to write his story, though, it turned out to be very hard to do. One of the most attractive things about Drake in WATCHERS was his self-confidence, the sense that he was comfortable in his own skin. Confident, comfortable characters, however, don’t make for interesting protagonists, so I had to shake him up. I found myself strangely reluctant to do so. That was the first time I had to struggle to make myself be mean to one of my characters. Usually authorial cruelty comes easily to me, as my readers no doubt know!

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Tate Hallaway is the best selling alias of award-winning fantasy/science fiction author Lyda Morehouse.  I met Lyda at a WorldCon several years back — she moderated a panel I was on and did a wonderful job.  She’s got a great sense of humor and is an insightful and articulate student of the genre.  Our paths haven’t crossed since then, but she’s one of my sfnovelists buddies, and she has a new book coming out under Tate’s name.  Her new book, ROMANCING THE DEAD, will be released on May 6, 2008.
 
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