Monday, January 28, 2013

REVISITING TALERA

The Talera trilogy--Swords of Talera, Wings Over Talera, and Witch of Talera--was published in book form in 2007, although it was written years earlier. In 2008 I started a new arc in the Talera story, a novel to be called Wraith of Talera. I completed 21,000 words on the book over the summer, but when school started I had to put it away for various nonfiction projects that I needed to work on related to my professional career.  Various other fiction and nonfiction projects intervened in the ensuing years, and so the partial has lain dormant on my computer ever since.

Then, a few days ago, I was casting around for my next large scale project and I knew I had two in various stages of completion, the already mentioned “Wraith,” and a work called The Razored Land. The latter is a post-apocalyptic piece and is already at 33,000+ words. When I’d left “Wraith” I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go next with the story. I didn’t have such a clear idea for “Razored,” so I opened my “Wraith” folder first and started to read. Within a few moments I was faintly misty-eyed as I began to recall all the hell I’d put Ruenn and Rannon through. And I realized how much I’d missed these characters.

The upshot of all this is that I’ve started working on Wraith of Talera again. To refamiliarize myself with the story thus far, I’m giving a very close read to what I’ve already got. I’m making some minor changes but not finding a lot that needs redoing. This should take a few days and then I’ll launch into the new material. I’m excited about it.

The book is about a third of the way done and my plan is to keep making at least slow forward progress on the book during the spring semester, then hit the accelerator during the summer and, hopefully, get it finished.  We’ll see if that happens. We are in the middle of a job search at work, and I’m on the committee. The IRB committee, of which I’m chair, has been busier than ever. And Xavier is considering restructuring our departments so that too has to go on the pile. This is not counting my classes. I’m teaching the Writing in Psychology class this spring, which is a major time commitment. If all goes well, though, a new Talera book will be in the can by the end of 2013.

Wish me luck.

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39 comments:

  1. Finally! I've been waiting for this one for 4 years :-)

    Looking forward to it

    - Jon

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  2. You can do it!
    Isn't it cool when you get excited about an old project?

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  3. Great news indeed! Loved the first book, and will be tackling the next two ASAP. Maybe I can finish them just in time for Wraith. :)

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  4. Definitely something to look forward to. I love those books. When I was packing my books to move, I realized, for the first time, that both books one and two have the same title on the spine, though! That's kind of amusing. . . .

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  5. Good news - I'd love to read 'Wraith'!

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  6. The Talera books are in my TBR pile. Having been on academic search committees, you have my extreme sympathies.

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  7. I can sense your excitement crackling through.

    A hearty good luck to you, Charles. I know you'll make this shine, in due time.

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  8. Congratulations on your Talera Trilogy reissue.

    What I especially notice about your work, (besides the top-drawer wring), is that you use plot and character.

    Structure, character. Plot.


    A story about my problems with plot and structure:



    In Copenhagen, a lifetime ago, I got into an argument over this with (who else?)--New York's top intellectual, Susan Sontag.

    She said anybody who wrote by the seat of his pants, like I did, was destined for permanent rejection and failure.
    ...And with that, she huffed and walked away from our bistro table near the railway station.

    A long-time fan of Robert Johnson, I could just see the image:

    "Well, I followed her to station
    With a suitcase in her hand..."

    Poor Canadian supplicant, with his
    own suitcase in his hand.

    (My claim to New York fame, by having lunch with a New York titan).

    And Being told, in effect to F-off by Susan Sonntag, top American writer.

    Heh-heh. Nawadays, in my fallen state, everybody seems to tell me to F-off. I'm getting used to it.
    It is especially cutting when they call you a dick on top of that.

    (There must be a novel in this masochism, but I'd better learn again use plot and structure). :)

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  9. Jon, I'm glad to be going again on it. I'd almost forgotten how much i enjoyed these characters.

    Alex, indeed so. I do like to finish what I start, but sometimes it's years between the two.

    Tom, thankee, man. Glad you enjoyed Swords. The other two are more action packed I think, especially the third one.

    Chris, I noticed that about the spines and did let Wildside know. I don't think they've ever changed it though. Maybe some day they will and yours will become collector's items. I'm sure I'll be that famous. :)

    Paul, that's good to hear!

    Shauna, and there's the strong female warrior in this one as well!

    Keith, yeah, man, such committees are no fun at all.

    Sarah, it's fun to feel that old excitement tingling in the fingers.

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  10. Luck!

    I certainly hope this will be published in ink-on-paper format, whether or not it's e-published too. Plus it would be awfully nice if it were in the same format, size, etc as the first three, though an actual painted cover would be great, and a new edition of all four with better covers and so forth the best of all! I'm going to go get in line to buy it now. I'll take a couple of sandwiches, will that suffice?

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  11. Good luck with Wriath, Charles!

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  12. Damn, I meant Wraith!

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  13. Charles I'm looking forward to the next one. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them so far.

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  14. Definitely looking forward to a fourth volumen.

    Seemed like something was slightly missing after the 3rd.

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  15. Good luck! I hope the job search goes smoothly, and the re-org, so you have some writing time before summer.

    Angie, keeping a set of virtual fingers crossed for you

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  16. Good luck! It sounds as if you've been pretty good about putting the nose to the grindstone.

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  17. It's great that you're going back over the previous Talera books in detail. After all, it's your canon, your universe. It's not fatal, but somewhat annoying when an author disrupts the reality he/she has already established in an earlier narrative.

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  18. My head's spinning with all you've got on your plate, Charles. I feel like I have retired already! All the best to you with "Wraith of Talera" and "The Razored Land".

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  19. advice we all need:

    How Facebook can help you WRITE MANY BOOKS -

    1.click on the little gear thingie

    2.log out

    3.start writing

    [that's what the thingie is for]

    ~Helene Boudreau

    ;) lmfao

    luck you don't need, just have fun!

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  20. Dude submit my name for head of the English Department.

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  21. Always interesting to revisit unfinished work and see how it holds up. Best of luck, Charles.

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  22. Deka, Thanks, man

    Richard R. said..., it should be in print first and then probably as an ebook. I don’t know what they plan for the covers but likely something in keeping with the previous ones. I’m gonna try and see if I can get a map put in this one. Since they are not long novels, a collected edition might be a real possibility. I wish the SF book club would pick them up and do that. Surely two sandwiches would be enough. 

    Oscar said..., I appreciate that! I figured!

    Richard Godwin, Glad to hear. I appreciate it.

    G. B. Miller, the third finished the main story line but left some of the secondary plot situations unresolved.

    Angie said..., I hope so too. It’s very frustrating to have ideas and want to write and not be able to get to it.

    Riot Kitty, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things. It is easy to fall off the work wagon.

    X. Dell, Yes, I hate that when it happens. And It’s amazing what one can forget about one’s own creation.

    Prashant, thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll need the good wishes.

    Laughingwolf, lol. Very true!

    Mark, sure, man. They need a strong hand at the tiller.

    Pattinase, yes it is. I was pleasantly surprised but it wasn’t that long ago when I started it.

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  23. How true. There are characters that never stop haunting you. I know you'll enjoy the reunion. :)

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  24. This is such a lovely feeling, to read something you've written a while ago and rediscover it and realize that it's really good.
    When it happens to me I wonder if it was I who really wrote that... :-)

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  25. Bernard, amazing how real they become to you. And how you care about them.

    Randy, :)

    Laughingwolf, indeed.

    Vesper, I never look a gift horse in the mouth. If someone else wrote it, it's mine now. :)

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  26. Excellent, man ~ it's a delight to be excited about such a project. Good luck ~!

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  27. Good luck, I am always amazed at how much you get published!

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  28. good news!
    revisiting old ideas that still a-sparkle is one of the best thing a writer can come accross.
    i bet the book will be out of print this year.

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  29. Sage, a little bit at a time. ;)

    Szelsofa, thankee, man.

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  30. Charles, sounds like you've got a breath of fresh air for your project. Happy writing!

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  31. YES! All you had to write was "a new Talera book will be in the can by the end of 2013." But I love reading your process, Charles.

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  32. I like the idea of a new Talera adventure. I'll be waiting as patiently as I can for it.

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  33. Jodi, indeed!

    David Cranmer, thanks, man.

    Travis Cody, I appreciate that!

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