Cast in Silence Cover, attempt one
Mar. 26th, 2009 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msagaraI have been so absent lately I can almost hear crickets, and I've been dusting cobwebs off my hands and feet while I try to make a bit of space in the Michelle-clutter.
I finally have a scan of the actual cover flat for Cast in Silence which is an August 2009 release. I really like it.
It's in theory behind the cut:
The surface itself is a matte; the words are gloss. The overall cover is darker than it appears (on my computer), but the central image is blue and gold, and while the colours are darker, they're richer than they appear here (again, on my computer).
The book is finished.
Sadly, House Name is not finished. A small author-is-not-very-clever misunderstanding about the conversion of MS Word wordcounts to page run-off counts means that the book I thought was a bit on the long side, while unfinished, was, ummm, very very very much on the long side. I haven't taken much of a break from writing; I just haven't reached the magical "the end" words. This reminds me a bit of writing the planned two volumes which comprised The Sun Sword. Which, of course, is six volumes.
So... I'm still working on that. I have also started the tentatively titled Cast in Chaos, which is the first of the three new Cast novels I just sold Luna. It is the book I affectionately refer to as the Refugee Book. This won't hopefully be as dark--to me--as Silence.
*edited because a good friend pointed out that 'mat' and 'matte' are not the same word.
I finally have a scan of the actual cover flat for Cast in Silence which is an August 2009 release. I really like it.
It's in theory behind the cut:
The surface itself is a matte; the words are gloss. The overall cover is darker than it appears (on my computer), but the central image is blue and gold, and while the colours are darker, they're richer than they appear here (again, on my computer).
The book is finished.
Sadly, House Name is not finished. A small author-is-not-very-clever misunderstanding about the conversion of MS Word wordcounts to page run-off counts means that the book I thought was a bit on the long side, while unfinished, was, ummm, very very very much on the long side. I haven't taken much of a break from writing; I just haven't reached the magical "the end" words. This reminds me a bit of writing the planned two volumes which comprised The Sun Sword. Which, of course, is six volumes.
So... I'm still working on that. I have also started the tentatively titled Cast in Chaos, which is the first of the three new Cast novels I just sold Luna. It is the book I affectionately refer to as the Refugee Book. This won't hopefully be as dark--to me--as Silence.
*edited because a good friend pointed out that 'mat' and 'matte' are not the same word.
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:09 am (UTC)Three more Cast books = awesome. Thanks for breaking radio silence to share the news.
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:14 am (UTC)And as someone who has been reading your books for more than a decade now all I can say is: My goodness, how unusual for you to run long. :D
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 04:22 am (UTC)The cover is very nice. How well does the figure reflect *your* image of Kaylin?
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:31 am (UTC)2: Everyone is allowed to take breaks whenever they feel like it. You especially, busy as you are.
3: Take your sweet time with House Name! I have yet to get to the other House books! .. Which.. I still don't know if they've come out in paperback yet? Probably sometime late this year, if memory serves?
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Date: 2009-03-27 06:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 05:00 am (UTC)don't worry about going "too long" on the house book. I'm totally up for another 6 book series. all of the books can be over 600 pages. when I read them, all my friends assume I'm just that much smarter than they are. Hey, don't laugh, it could be true!
looking forward to whatever you come up with, as always.
O_O = my reading book until I have eye strain face
| | = my jaw dropping at its AWESOMENESS.
-
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Date: 2009-03-27 03:28 pm (UTC)I sent the Youtube link for the Discovery Channel commercials to my entire family. YAY for clever commercials!
(no subject)
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Date: 2009-03-27 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 07:41 am (UTC)As for the other, I am kind and will make no comment. Also, anyway, it would be like the pot calling the kettle black.
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Date: 2009-03-27 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 09:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 10:04 am (UTC)I am coming to the conclusion that no book is ever finished. It's just that some of them set.
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Date: 2009-03-28 06:58 pm (UTC)Yes, I think so -- if it weren't for deadlines, I could continue pretty much forever. Part of the problem that I have is that so many things that I feel brings a story to life (for me, I hastily add, as the person who is writing that particular story) are often elements that aren't directly plot-based; you could delete or lose them and readers could still follow the basic story.
But delete enough of them, and what you have is an outline. I probably don't delete enough of them, though.
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Date: 2009-03-27 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 11:14 am (UTC)The end of the other book will come when it comes and not before that.
Outstanding.
Date: 2009-03-27 11:56 am (UTC)Fantastic news - congrats and thanks.
Iain.
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Date: 2009-03-27 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 12:59 pm (UTC)WOOT!
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Date: 2009-03-27 01:25 pm (UTC)Never follow MS Word wordcounts. They count literal words, but that doesn't map onto book length. Two authors may have the same wordcount, but if one uses a lot of dialogue and the other uses mostly long paragraphs, the dialogue-y book will be longer in print.
One of the reasons for SMF (12pt courier, 1 inch margins all around) is that it's much easier to get a useful estimate of book length. A page in SMF counts as 250 words, regardless of whether it's a string of one-word dialogue exchanges or a solid wall of descriptive text.
If you're one of those people who hates courier, 12pt Times with 1" margins all around counts as 350 words.
(Bona fides: I'm a former text design manager, now a production manager.)
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Date: 2009-03-27 07:08 pm (UTC)One of the reasons for SMF (12pt courier, 1 inch margins all around) is that it's much easier to get a useful estimate of book length. A page in SMF counts as 250 words, regardless of whether it's a string of one-word dialogue exchanges or a solid wall of descriptive text.
Until the last two novels -- House Name and Cast in Silence , I wrote in word, in page view, in 12pt Courier, with 24pt line spacing. I wrote by page count, rather than word count, so this would be the first time I've had this problem; I didn't actually pay attention to MS Word's wordcount because, well, it wasn't relevant.
But I migrated to a program called Scrivner, for the Mac, for the last two books. There is no page view in Scrivner; it's one continuous block of text. So, in as much as I follow daily metrics, I had to use the wordcount there--which is, essentially, the MS Word style of wordcount.
And because I've never used it before, I thought for some reason that there would be fewer pages, when exporting to standard manuscript format. This was, as you've pointed out, Completely Wrong.
But Scrivner has a lot of organization features I really like, so with the next books I write, I'll know to start the "OMG this is going to be way too long" ulcers much earlier...
(no subject)
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Date: 2009-03-27 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 02:09 pm (UTC):X I really hope we get to see the dragon emperor soon. IF WE DON'T, WE DON'T, but that would be spectacular. I love so much about this series.
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Date: 2009-03-28 07:04 pm (UTC)Not in Silence, or in Chaos; the one thing I had to cut for length reasons was the Etiquette lessons sub-plot in Silence, and without the Etiquette lessons, there's no Dragon Court. But those should be part of Cast in Chaos, which I'm working on now.
I do fully intend to write a Dragon Court book, though.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 02:50 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 2009-03-27 03:27 pm (UTC)Love the cover for Cast in Silence! Love the news about three more Cast books! Love that there will (absent a serious falling-out with your publisher) more House books!
(And I like exclamation points too!)