If you are not familiar with the concept, crowd funding is a (relatively) new method by which pledges are solicited from fans, supporters, subscribers or even family members and friends, for a work that has not yet been produced. Pledgers promising anywhere from one to a thousand dollars receive “gifts” of anything from a public thank you, to signed promotional items, to front row seats. This is not small change. A recent crowd funding campaign by Neil Gaiman yielded pledged support for his US tour (this was a stage performance art tour, not a book tour) to the tune of $200,000. A very nice melody indeed, and Kudos to Neil for getting that much support!

But that’s part of my problem with the concept. For those who are famous, the process works very wonderfully; for those who are not, it does not work so well. Those of us who have clawed our way up from anonymity know that fans are wonderful people, but they also have limited resources. Crowd funding is above and beyond royalties, ticket sales, etc. that an artist earns, and that money has to come from somewhere. What fans shell out to fund a project will not be spent on another author’s product. There is an argument that they would attend that concert, buy that book or CD, or download that video anyway, so the money is simply shifted forward in time, but these pledges often range upward of hundreds of dollars, well above the price of tickets, books, etc., so there is, indeed, a draw on the “fan dollar” that was not there before.

Crowd-funding sites also face skepticism over their revenue model, where the basic principle is to take a percentage of money collected. Kickstarter puts an all-or-nothing twist on taking their cut; groups that don’t hit their goal before the deadline receive no funding and donors’ credit cards don’t get charged. IndieGoGo allows users to keep whatever they raise but charges a higher commission of nine percent if the total falls short of the goal, while successful campaigns are charged 4 percent. GiveForward takes a flat seven percent, which they state covers their processing fees. The fan’s dollar is supporting these business, which did not exist prior to the concept.
Don’t get me wrong; if I had the “star status” of Neil Gaiman, I’d be all over this trend like ugly on an armadillo, but I might not feel good about it in the end. Stupid conscience… So, given the opportunity, and a sufficient popularity, I might delve into crowd funding myself, but there would always be the question in my mind as to how many budding authors I was taking money from.

I would love to hear some feedback on this subject, so feel free to chime in!

The seven hundred twenty-four page culmination to the Mistborn Trilogy left me holding a huge bag of mixed feelings. The trilogy as a whole is a wonderful piece of literature, with a very intriguing and original twist on magic, religion and setting. Brandon Sanderson is a consummate writer, with a solid talent and skill for storytelling. His plots are complex without being convoluted and realistic without being stodgy. The characters are individuals, not cardboard cutouts, and their reactions and motives are well thought out and true. All of that on the positive side, I still got the feeling that this tome was a herculean effort to tie up all the loose ends of the previous two novels, and leave just enough to set up a sequel.

Once again, I’d reiterate that this is a wonderfully written trilogy, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves epic fantasy, but it took me a very long time to read, simply because it was so much to take in, that I could only take small doses.

One other minor problem I had with this installment of the trilogy was the pre-chapter out-takes, and how they were used. In the previous two novels, I enjoyed them. They gave clues without being didactic, and made you think while you were reading, which was essential. In Hero of Ages, I got the distinct feeling that these same excerpts from an unknown point of view—until the ending—, were set up to explain the plot twists that you had just, or were about to read. I found them off-putting instead of intriguing, as if I was being told that I did not have the intellect to understand the plot, and here was the explanation. Such a consummate writer should not have to use such props to hold up the story, although it probably saved us several hundred pages.

All in all, a very high recommendation for this entire series. I don’t know, however, if I will be picking up the sequels, though the teaser chapter at the end of Hero of Ages, for Brandon Sanderson’s next work, Warbreaker, looks very good!

View all my reviews

Erin M. Evans’ debut novel, The God Catcher, a Forgotten Realms—Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep—story, is a wonderful tale that will catch you up in its magic and take you on a wonderful journey. I think I liked it best because it was a completely character driven experience. The city of Waterdeep is a delightful setting, and the plot is just twisty enough without being confusing, but the characters are what truly bring the tale to life. The plight of a girl with a past she doesn’t want, a future that is torn away from her and an unusual house guest pulls you in and never lets go to the very last page.

As is often the case with shared world fiction, there is a moment of feeling like one has walked into the middle of a movie in the beginning of the novel, especially if one is not well-versed in the world, but this quickly passes as you fall in love with the characters. I’ll stress that one need not have read any of the other Forgotten Realms novels to enjoy this tale, but if you have, this will no doubt enrich your read. Ed Greenwood’s world of the Forgotten Realms is deep and rich and detailed beyond belief, but instead of confusing the reader with unnecessary facts and descriptions, Ms. Evans gives you just enough if you are a Forgotten Realms junkie, and not too much if you are not. This is a classic tale of “Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons” and you are truly biting your nails by the final chapter.

I will be looking for more from you, Erin, and I know you won’t disappoint! Bravo!

View all my reviews

As I have often said, a good tale needs three things to stand on its own, good characters, a lush and imaginative setting, and a well-planned plot. James L. Sutter has all of these things nailed down in Death’s Heretic, and on top of that, his writing style is wonderfully flowing his pacing is fast and fun to read.

Death’s Heretic, Pathfinder Tales novel set in the role-playing game world of Golarion, revolves around Salim Ghadafar, a reluctant solver of problems for Pharasma, the goddess of birth, death and prophesy. He is also an atheist, but in a world in which the existence of the gods is beyond doubt, that term means that he simply refuses to worship any deity. This makes Salim a very interesting character, and how he got into the position of serving a deity he refuses to worship is a tale in and of itself, and one that Sutter hints at first, then finally gives us. Without giving anything away (I loathe spoilers) suffice it to say that Salim is a tortured soul, bound into service, although he does, at times, enjoy his work.

Sutter does not pull any punches in this story, which is refreshing and breathes realism into the tale. He loves lush descriptions, but they are not onerous, and there is plenty to describe, as the characters go on a vast romp though many planes of existence. The fight choreography is excellent, the conversation is real without being stilted and the plot twists work wonderfully, without a single “Oh come on!” moment in the whole book. Highest recommendation for this wonderful tale.

One note: this is shared world fiction set in a gaming environment, so there are some assumptions that the reader has some familiarity with the setting. You could read and enjoy this book without having ever played the Pathfinder game, but having a look at some of their materials might make the experience richer for you.

View all my reviews

The discussion started out well enough, but there was one fellow who, no matter how it was explained, just didn’t get it.  Only after reading several of his posts did I finally figure out that he had totally missed the point.  Now you have to understand, this is a discussion among writers of SFF, so no wonder I was baffled.  This person was under the impression that Suspension of Disbelief was the author’s attempt to suspend the disbelief of the reader, not as to what was possible within the story, but what was possible in the real world.  I was dumbstruck… or probably dumberstruck, if that’s a word…  How could anyone who wrote fiction not understand the concept?

Unfortunately, I tried to explain it, and that was when the fight started…

Suffice it to say, I stated my case and shut up.  You cannot convince certain people of facts, regardless of the proof you lay before them.  It is best to stay civil and state your case, then bow out…  Okay, I did that, but here and now I’m going to state my concerns on what I felt was inherently wrong with this person’s thinking.

How can anyone profess to be a writer, and not wish to put dreams into peoples’ minds?  How can you not wish to entertain with the impossible, much as a stage magician, and convince the observer that what you have just pulled off is real, if only here and now, only for this moment?  How can you deny imagination, and its capacity for discovery, for wonder and for love?  If you close your minds to the impossible, not in the real world, but in stories, you have forever killed the child within yourself.  You have become something hollow and without the capacity for true thought.

As a scientist of twenty years, I cannot imagine that the truly wondrous minds of our time, the ones who gave us such wonderful theories and inventions that apply to our everyday lives, did not have imaginations that could wander outside the lines of reality from time to time.  So much of science fiction, and even fantasy, has stimulated great minds to think outside the box, to stretch the boundaries of reality, to create new realities…  How can you deny the value of such a wonderful tool?

So believe, of only for a moment, that a boy can fly, that a man can fall in love with a ghost, that a woman can summon a Pegasus and that a robot can fall in love…

In my humble opinion, if you cannot do these things between page one and the epilogue, you have no business ever putting your fingers on a keyboard and calling yourself an author.

Scimitar’s Heir

If that’s not enough, Chris also has a short story in When the Hero Comes Home, which is a finalist in the anthology category. This is a good day!

Keep an eye on our home page for future giveaways!  Any suggestions for what we should give away next?

I met their fiction editor, James Sutter at GenCon last year at a panel discussion titled “So, you want to write for Paizo?”  Right up my alley, right?  Well, wrong.  The panel diverged quickly into writing gaming stuff, which is really not my bag.  They had several of their novel authors there, but most of the fans were game designer wannabes, so that was the way the conversation went.  Undaunted, I approached James after the talk.  After introducing myself, I told him flat out that I would love to write fiction for Paizo, and would be willing to send him a sample of my work for him to look at.  He said sure, gave me his card, and said to send him a couple of samples.  I thanked him, shook his hand and walked away. This is key, I think: I didn’t hound him, didn’t beg, didn’t follow him around, didn’t show him pictures of my family, etc.  Professional, to the point and brief.  Editors at conventions really have their radar up for people they would NOT like to work with on a professional level.  If you bug them too much, they’ll remember you, and not in a good way.

I sent him two samples from the Scimitar Seas series, and got a reply (six months later, with a very nice apology for taking so long) that was positive.  He asked for some pitches for Paizo’s web fiction line. This is a nicely paying market, and a great opportunity to show my stuff, so I jumped on it.  Two days later, I sent him six different pitches for short web serials. This is also key: He was impressed with both the rapidity of my response and the variety of my pitches. He picked one, and gave me the guidelines: Write four 2000 word chapters, each titled and each a cliff hanger.

Six days later I gave him exactly what he asked for, edited and polished.  I busted ass to do this, and put another project on hold, but this is also a “first impression” thing.  If you’ve got an opportunity to show your stuff to a new market, show it!  I got an immediate response of “Wow, that was fast!” and that he was eager to read it. Two days later, I received an e-mail from him, and the subject line was “Paizo Novel?”

Of course, I freaked out, said I’d love to do the project and started on the outline.

Take home message: Be professional, personable, prompt, sharp, fast, give them exactly what they ask for, when they ask for it, follow their guidelines, be enthusiastic, and work like hell!

I now have a SFWA qualifying contract, and an August 1 deadline for a 100,000 word novel. So guess what I’m doing: I’m working like hell… with a huge smile on my face.