Archives: Writing

Hanuvar at GenCon

The Hanuvar series will officially debut at GenCon in Indianapolis, Indiana, in just a few days, and I couldn’t be happier.

If you happen to be attending GenCon, my schedule can be found below, and I hope you’ll swing by to say hello.

In addition to a number of panels, I’ll be showing up for two book signings as well as a meet the author event on Thursday evening, although I probably won’t be able to turn up until about 7:00 for that (it runs from 6-10).

If you haven’t yet ordered Lord of a Shattered Land, there are many North American locations where it can be found, including directly from Baen Books, my publisher

Amazon

Baen Books

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

Chapters Indigo

My GenCon schedule can be found below:

Moving to Baen

I am pleased to announce that I just signed a five hardback book contract with Baen Books, the famed science fiction and fantasy publisher, home to many of my favorite writers, like David Drake, Alan Dean Foster, and Tim Powers.

The first two books of my new series are already written. They star Hanuvar, the last general of Volanus. The Dervan Empire has leveled his city and carried its last few survivors away in chains. Against the might of a vast empire, Hanuvar has only an aging sword arm, a lifetime of wisdom… and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a single goal. No matter where they’ve been sent, from the festering capital to the furthest outpost of the Dervan Empire, he will find his people. Every last one of them. And he will set them free.

Those familiar with Hannibal of Carthage might recognize the broad outlines here, inspired by a single question – what would Hannibal have done if Rome had destroyed Carthage in his lifetime? If you’re not familiar with Hannibal, just imagine a soldier of Sherlock Holmes level intellect whose genius is focused upon the protection of his people and the preservation of his culture.

These books are straight up sword-and-sorcery. They are adventures in a secondary world inspired by the ancient Mediterranean, where magic is real, but rare and dangerous and unpredictable. Those familiar with Conan of Cimmeria or Elric of Melniboné paperbacks will be familiar with how the books are structured. Each consists of smaller adventures that build upon one another, with arcs and returning enemies and allies throughout. You might also picture each book like many a modern TV series, complete with an explosive “season finale” to wrap things up.

I can honestly say that I’ve never had as much fun writing books as I’ve had writing these. I can hardly wait for you to read them. I’m delighted by Baen’s support and the incredible level of backing they’ve already provided, and thrilled that their passion for classical sword-and-sorcery matches my own. We can hardly wait to share Hanuvar with all of you.

The first book, Lord of a Shattered Land, will come to bookstores near you in August of 2023.

Advance Praise for Lord of a Shattered Land

“This wonderful work put me in mind of the stories I read when I was editing Baen’s Robert E. Howard library.”David Drake, author of Hammer’s Slammers

 “Howard Jones creates engrossing fantasy tales by combining historical authenticity with his thoughtful modern sensibilities and shapes events with his keen understanding of great adventure writers like Harold Lamb, Robert E. Howard, and Leigh Brackett.”S. Craig Zahler, novelist and writer/director of Bone Tomahawk

 “Howard Jones writes not-to-be-missed epic fantasy with immersive worldbuilding and the highest stakes for the characters, fighting for personal survival and the survival of their world.”Martha Wells, Hugo, Nebula and Locus award-winning author of the Murderbot series

 “’History, real or feigned’ was Tolkien’s recipe for a good story. Howard Jones’ new novel has deep roots in history, real and imaginary. It’s a heroic fantasy set in a deeply imagined, fantastical world, but its hero has a strong resemblance to Hannibal, especially in his tragic post-war years. The book is a riveting portrait of a hero trying to keep his civilization alive in the wake of a devastating military defeat; it’s a series of ripping yarns that collectively add up to a greater story with a deeper impact than any of its parts; it’s another triumph for Howard Andrew Jones, premier wielder of the new edge in sword-and-sorcery.”—James Enge, World Fantasy Award nominated author of Blood of Ambrose

“Howard Andrew Jones is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st Century. He’s taking the entire field in new directions, with work that is deeper, more adult, and more ambitious than heroic fantasy has any right to be. His Lord of A Shattered Land is his best work yet, a heroic fantasy retelling of one of the great tales of antiquity, the fall of Carthage and its legendary general Hannibal. It’s a rich canvas on which Jones has sketched an engrossing and fast-paced tale with a stellar cast. At the center of it all is one of the great fictional creations of modern fantasy, Hanuvar himself, whose quest to free his enslaved and scattered people is the epic story of a single brilliant mind arrayed against the apparatus of an entire empire. It’s a magnificent achievement, destined to become a modern classic.”—John O’Neill, World Fantasy Award Winning Publisher of Black Gate

“In the pages of Howard Andrew Jones’s latest epic (and I mean epic!) fantasy novel-in-stories, we meet the weary, resolute, and utterly compelling Hanuvar: great general of a shattered land. Thought dead by his foes, now Hanuvar has dedicated his life to saving his enslaved countrymen, journeying ever deeper into the heart of enemy territory. On the way, he keeps company with poets and gladiators, actors, priestesses, and circus performers—and we keep company with him. As we follow Hanuvar on his many adventures, fighting alongside him against increasing odds and unspeakable monsters (both human and otherwise), and befriending his friends along the way, somehow the light around us seems to grow more golden, the shadows more restless, the ghosts more bittersweet, and the darkness more fanged. Lord of a Shattered Land reads like a heroic classic we all grew up with, yet in Jones’s work, the familiar combines with the unknown in a heady elixir of battle, blood, magic, triumph, and tenderness.”—C.S.E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award Winning author of Bone Swans

 

 

Getting By

I hope all of my visitors are well. Here we’re doing alright. I know many of my writer friends are finding themselves with MORE time to write, but if anything my own time is a little more fragmented.

Still, work is progressing on the third book. I’m deep into Act II, which is usually my least favorite part of any book to write. An informal poll among writer friends over the years has revealed a lot of us feel the same way. In the middle is when your doubts like to gang up, when you’re not sure you’ve got your pacing right, when you’re not sure the characters are acting quite right, etc. But of course pacing trouble and wobbly characters are going to turn up in the first draft. As my buddy E.E. Knight likes to say, give yourself permission to let the first draft suck. You’ve just got to get the story down and do the finesse work in the next drafts.

I don’t have as many doubts as I used to, and I’m not feeling mopey about the work, in part because I’ve done this enough times that I know the routine and in part because out there in the real world a whole lot of people have far more serious things to worry about… As I’ve written there have been some surprises and some changes despite my outline, and I sense another change in what I originally planned may be coming down the pike once I start Act III. After that, the third and final act feels like it’s going to stay about the way I planned. I’m hoping I’ll have a fully working draft by the end of next month.

Notecards

In the last few years I’ve spent a lot of time talking about outlining stories because I’ve been trying to find a way to write without getting lost down paths that yield moments that don’t work. I’ve gotten better and better at getting it right earlier on, in part due to outlines, but admittedly in part just due to practice.

The sequel to the upcoming novel, For the Killing of Kings, was much easier to write than its predecessor. One reason is that by the time I started work on book 2 I had a good handle on the world and the characters. I believe it’s always going to be a challenge starting a new work when you’re writing of an invented place because you need to get familiar with the world and the characters moving through it. 

But another reason it went well is because of the outline permutation I developed. I don’t know if it would have helped me in the past, but I know it helped me in the composition of the second book, and it’s helping me outline book 3.

Leaves

This morning the leaves outside the kitchen window are gorgeous. I seem to appreciate autumn more and more as I age. Or maybe Im learning to better appreciate the things around me. Click to enlarge, and you’ll see the colors really pop.

I was traveling all of last week, and the way my phone has been glitching it just made Internet access a challenge. So I’m a little late getting this Black Gate link to you. My friend Myke Cole was interviewed by yours truly about his new book, the second in his new series. We also make casual reference to a really nifty sounding military history book he wrote. You should check out his work, and the interview.

Speeding Along

As I make final choices for the contents of the third issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull I took a couple of weeks off novel writing and have been working furiously on some short stories. Between books is about the only time I have anymore to draft short fiction. I’d thought I might get three or four, but one of them proved a really tough not to crack, and took me down multiple dead ends and many false starts. But yesterday I finally finished a draft of the third (chronologically) Hanuvar story. I’m nearly done revising a fourth, although there’s a rough of a fifth on my computer as well. Those last two don’t fall into the same chronological sequence.

I’d hoped to finish a new Dabir and Asim story that’s about two thirds complete, but it may have to wait for another break. It’s time to get to work outlining the third novel of my new trilogy, and it’s just about time to start gearing up for the big promotional push on book 1. Ugh. Promotions.

Today, though, I take a rare day off. Seems like every day lately, even weekends, I’ve had lots of work. Not that I mind the work. I just haven’t been able to game. In just a few minutes my friend Dean Brown, all around great guy and talented game designer (B-17 Leader is his) is coming by for a visit. Seems like I’ve known him for years now, but we’ve never met in person. We’re going to take a day and just wargame. Should be a grand time!

For the Killing of Kings Preorder

I’d like to thank Jennifer Donovan at St. Martin’s for clearing up the issue at Amazon with the pre-order button on my upcoming novel, For the Killing of Kings, and Mick and Troy and others for keeping me informed about that button’s disappearance. You can find both the book and its pre-order button here.

By a curious coincidence, this week I am reading final page proofs of the very same book. Next to me is a huge stack of paper, and a pen, and a little notebook. The stack of paper is the near final version of the text. The pen isn’t red, but maybe it should be. And the little notebook is to make notes of items I probably should have been tracking all along. The color of a character’s horse, for instance, or the character’s age — sorts of things I’ll really need to know going forward.

A few years ago I went so far as to purchase a program named Scrivener that is really supposed to help you track these kinds of details, but I was already working on the book in Word and didn’t switch. Probably I should have used Scrivener when I started work on book 2… but I’m pretty used to Word at this point. Maybe I’ll use it for book 3…

Speaking of book 2, I’ve tentatively titled it Upon the Flight of the Queen, and I’ve just sent it off to my agent. It will be heading out to my editor early next week.

I actually have some really neat things to blog about, and some more interviews from authors I’ve conducted. I’m just so busy with writing and editing that I may not update the site here as often as I like. I’ll still try to post updates a few times a week. I won’t leave it to the tumbleweeds…

GenCon 2018

I’m back from GenCon with some amazing memories, some fine stories, and some gaming treasure, and I’ll probably be talking about some of it in the coming days. For now, let me just say that it was certainly the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had at a convention.

Maybe you’ve met someone you’ve really admired, or reconnected with an old friend, or made a new one, or grown closer with a friendly acquaintance through shared experience. Maybe you’ve heard an inspiring lecture, or gotten some great career advice, or seen some amazing products you’d like to own, or played a great game session, or made important business contacts. If you’ve experienced any of these things, it might be the highlight of the day, or week, or month, or year. At a convention, those things can all happen over the course of a few days. What would normally be the best moment of an entire month or maybe even year can happen the next hour after another similarly memorable event.

That’s what happened to me this year.

Novel Lessons 4.5: Between the Novels, Part 2

One of the reasons I wrote last week of learning from other genres is because of one of the problems plaguing me in the as-yet uncompleted The Maiden’s Eye. I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, some background.

The unfinished third novel of Dabir and Asim had several problems leading to its abandonment, although the most important of those was the cancellation of the series. By the second or third month after the release of The Bones of the Old Ones, it was clear that no amount of good press was getting the book to move. It just wasn’t selling. My editor told me if I wanted to go ahead and finish the third book, that he’d publish it, but the writing seemed to be on the wall, and we both agreed to step away.

I set to work deciding what I’d work on next, coming up with several ideas I’d back burnered, outlining them in some detail before I allowed myself to mourn the end of the series I loved so well. I’ve since vowed that I will at least one day finish the third novel, but I have to admit that it was a little easier to walk away because it had some issues: