The King Henry Tapes (By Me!)

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Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
Evil spoilers, do not read if you haven't finished FM3.

No problem, I like to get a sense of where people are at.

Valsibel 2.0
This is one of those things where being in the work and unable to do the brain-wipe to see the other side of it, makes it very hard. How much is too much? How much is too little? With the Isabel thing it seems like I found the sweet spot of just the right amount. Then there are others where fans still haven't caught on to clues I'm dropping or they caught on to things that aren't clues but they think are clues, which is just weird for me...because you have to lead them on like maybe they are on to something...but...not really...

Henrytine
Nah, none of that. Tensions will be real, not soy.

Expectations
Well, in my case, we're still talking Spec-Fiction here. It's Urban Fantasy turning into Urban/Epic Fantasy. You can also do Fantasy into Sci-Fi pretty well. If you're writing a romance and then all of a sudden it turns into torture-porn, yeah, you might have problems. Doesn't even have to be in the same book, it can just be expectations fans have of an author. Personally, my bromance/comedy I wrote, only gets about 1% crossover from King Henry readers.

The Future
FM4, FM5, and then "Rockets" which is a steampunk war novel that takes place on a world that is turned outside in. Really going to try to get them all finished by the end of 2014.

Question for Everyone
So...Paine? Thoughts?
 
Void

Void

BAU BAU
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About your final question (still a spoiler, don't read it if you haven't finished):
Paine was fine for me. You basically had to make a choice of having him be someone like Welf, or a friend turned evil for whatever reason, or someone new but with a reason. Welf really would have been too obvious, and to be honest the way you have portrayed him I would expect that he'd be an ally to King Henry in a battle against someone like Paine. He's an entitled dickhead, sure, but he hasn't really done anything evil that I can remember, King Henry just hated him on general principles from day one. It's probably more King Henry's fault that they are enemies than Welf's. So I'm glad you didn't twist him into the evil mastermind, as that would have been out of character to me.

Obviously anyone can be twisted given the right motivation; for example, Valentine herself could have conceivably gone batshit insane megamind evil if her sister got killed due to something the Asylum did. It would have ruined a great character, of course, but the point is that you *could* have taken an existing friend of King Henry's and made something terrible turn him/her into the villain. Again, I'm glad you didn't take that path.

Leaving us with someone new, but related. There has always been something more to the Asylum and Ceinwyn in particular that simmers beneath the surface (not telling students they can pool more, split pools, hold back pools, etc.) or even blatantly malicious (the final "stomp" if someone graduates but still can't fit in), so it would make sense that at some point someone ran afoul of that maliciousness and holds a grudge. That it is someone related to Ceinwyn is even better, as is the fact they are a Geomancer to match King Henry...and vastly more skilled and advanced of course so that he has an uphill battle (which all of his seem to be) that will take him awhile to get ready for.

So I like the path you took. I'm sure you could have made either of the other ones work too, but given what you picked, I think you did a great job of it. I also liked the fact that you didn't actually have him do the villain soliloquy that is the downfall of all villains, you at least covered it up with him being an Artificer and genuinely interested in what kind of artifacts King Henry had come up with, so he traded question for question. It gave us the info we needed without the villain being a fucking idiot like in the movies. Good work on that too.

Other than that, not sure what else to say about him really, but ask if there is.

So does this mean that we might get another Foul Mouth around the end/beginning of the year perhaps??
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
I'm thinking about writing the shop timeline of FM4/FM5 back to back and then going back and doing the school parts for each, so probably not. Those books got flipped in the sequence and I'm not sure if I should flip the school half with them or not, so the thinking is: write the shop timelines to get a better sense of what to do. If any book slips into 2013 I'd put money on "Rockets" over the Foul Mouth books. But if I do it this way, then FM5 will come much quicker than usual.

Also...I'm a fickle writer, you really shouldn't trust anything I just said as the gospel. Heh.
 
T

T-rex_sl

shitlord
28
0
Any update on possibly releasing a print version? I think I am the only person around here that doesn't have an e-reader.
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
T-rex_sl said:
Any update on possibly releasing a print version? I think I am the only person around here that doesn't have an e-reader.
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After FM4, I'd like to take the time to do a FM1/FM2+Shorts, and FM3/FM4 omnibus edition print on demand things. But again...fickle and all that.
 
Alkorin

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
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You know what? Bump, because I'm having such a damn good time reading these. The only letdown so far has been that I'm reading them way too quickly, and I'll be done with book 3 soon. I want moar!
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
Yeah... Haven't even really started in on FM4 yet, been working on my Steampunk novel, about halfway done with it so far.
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
Wrote an update on the blog for the general fan-base, most of it you lot already know but just so you don't feel left out.

May 10th we released FM3 to the world (or at least the internet, which is frankly better than the world) and it has so far received universal praise as being the best in the series . Which means...I'm doing something right. But I need to keep doing it right, so here's where we're at and where we're going.

When is the next King Henry book, FM4, coming out?
Not this year! I know you fans want it yesterday, but I have to write it first and writing King Henry actually takes a good amount of time. Some of this is from me having to "wear" the character while I write--this is a ton more difficult than just writing something in 3rd Person POV, especially with a character as complex and difficult as King Henry.

The rest of it is that as an Indie writer without the whole team behind me, I have two modes. I have Writing Mode and I have Editing Mode. One is hopeful and creative, one is extremely cynical and so so happy to tear down dreams. When I go into Editing Mode to get a book out to you fans the instant after the first draft is done (relatively speaking), it really hurts my productivity for three to even four months.

So even if I could write FM4 in a flash and have it out to you lot in December, I'm not going to. I want to be in Writer Mode for awhile, disappear into the laboratory, and then I'll come back with a bunch of awesome stuff when it's ALL (or mostly) done.

What's the Awesome Stuff then?
FM4, FM5, and the Steampunk novel I've been calling "Rockets" but which will have another title eventually revealed. The goal, and I might fail but I'm trying not to, is to have all three out next year (2014).

Why do it like this for FM4 and FM5?
FM4 and FM5 were originally the other way around in the series order when I first outlined the whole thing, but early in working on FM3 I switched them when I realized it would make Val and King Henry's relationship be less chaotic if some things happened the other way around. What I haven't decided about the switch yet, is whether the School Timeline should switch with them.

So what I'm thinking about doing is writing the Shop Timeline for FM4 and FM5 and THEN going back and doing the School Timeline for each book once I have a feel for how the stories interconnect.

In case you're wondering, this is why authors don't write complicated multi-timeline stuff and instead just pump out half-naked vampire boytoy and bastard boy with a sword stuff for you. Woe is me!

I'm not sure I care about "Rockets" yet, but you're going to tell me about "Rockets" so just tell me about it.
"Rockets" is about half done now. It's set in a completely new secondary fantasy world I've created. It's a Steampunk variant called Dieselpunk with WW1/WW2 tech levels. There's a magic in the world called The Path. There's automation soldiers called Clockers. There's skyships and landships and interceptors and so many fun toys.

"Rockets" itself is a very small focus action-adventure/war novel but the world will likely be one I return to in the future (5 possible books so far). The world itself is influenced by Star Wars, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica, but of course, Steampunk instead of SciFi, and with my own twists on everything.

I'm really happy with the chapters I have so far and think it's a pretty good roller coaster ride. It will probably be coming out between FM4 and FM5.

Speaking of FM4 and FM5, can a fanatic get a hint?
While I first think of THE KING HENRY TAPES as one big story split up 12 times to make publication easier, the first half of the series does work well as two trilogies. But not in the way you think as one trilogy and then a sequel trilogy but as a trilogy connected to a trilogy of sequels (say that 10 times fast for bonus points, also I haven't had coffee this morning, give me a break). I don't really view FM2 as FM1's sequel. Instead, it works better if you think of FM1, FM2, and FM3 all as the beginning book to their own storyline that just happens to have many of the same characters and the same world. FM4 is FM1's sequel. FM5 is FM2's sequel. And FM6 is FM3's sequel.

This isn't to say they're contained. The stories mix and mash more this time around. And FM7 to FM12 will just be a big jumble of Crazy Awesomeness I promise, or Awesome Crazyness, whatever you prefer.

But yeah, FM4 will bring back the vampires...with a revengence.

In Conclusion
I'm going to be writing for the rest of the year, not editing. FM4, FM5, and "Rockets" are all in the pipe and should be good for 2014. I'll try to update you guys at least once more this year on my progress (or lack of it).

Thanks for the Reviews
Also, a special thanks to everyone who has reviewed my books! It really helps out with spreading the word and I thank you for the support and for your time and thoughts. We actually just hit 100 reviews on Amazon spread across all the King Henry books and shorts, believe it or not.

Cool. Cool cool cool.
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Alkorin

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
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Excellent. Can't wait for the trilogy of sequels, as it were, which is an interesting way of looking at things. Great to see a plan in motion, for sure.

Rockets sounds neat, too. Might just be because I have a hardon for anything loosely influenced by Firefly, but hey.
 
opiate82

opiate82

Bronze Squire
3,078
5
I just wanted to bump this up for you. I've read the first 3 FM novels and liked them alot. I just wanted to encourage our members here to give the series a try and I will toss you some good reviews on Amazon as well.
 
Jorren

Jorren

Maximum Derek
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Sir you are brilliant. If Joy and Bliss could fuck and have a baby it still would not express how much I enjoy this series. Do your thing, keep em coming!

thumb tip
 
C

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
5,251
8,950
Late to the party, just buying FM3 now. Do you get a bigger cut from one or the other of the sales channels? I'm indifferent; happy to go through whatever nets you more.
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
Jorren_sl said:
Sir you are brilliant. If Joy and Bliss could fuck and have a baby it still would not express how much I enjoy this series. Do your thing, keep em coming!

thumb tip
Click to expand...
I'm continually amazed at the amount of people that bring that scene up before everything else that happened in the book.

Captain Suave, doesn't really matter.
 
Jorren

Jorren

Maximum Derek
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Nebuchadnezzar_sl said:
I'm continually amazed at the amount of people that bring that scene up before everything else that happened in the book.
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The set up and delivery was amazing. On a base level one could take it as simply funny, but from character level and Val's reaction... Seriously that was a fine bit of writing. I am not finished with this one yet, so maybe things will change
smile.png
 
quse

quse

the pupe
62
10
Finally have time to catch up on backed up reading.

Copy = purchased - can't wait to get started!
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
Since Sunday I've given away over 10,000 copies of Fanged Lady thanks to a Bookbub promotion. If you guys don't know what it is, it's a free/bargain ebook daily mailing list set up to the genres you chose. Majority of it is Indie stuff, but Big 6 authors are starting to use it more and more as well, especially as the site keeps growing (over 1 million subs now). Definitely check it out if you read ebooks a lot.

Small writing update: 4 chapters into FM4 plus a bunch of world-building work on the vamp side of things. New character count stands at 3 so far.
 
Alkorin

Chancellor Alkorin

Part-Time Sith
<Granularity Engineer>
6,051
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Created a Ceinwyn Dale on the FFXIV server to pay homage. Near to an Aeromancer as I could get, anyway.

Hey, it is the self-proclaimed RP server of the lot. I could have some fun with this.
 
Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Golden Squire
458
50
You know, the only good thing about having just a small fanbase so far is that King Henry/T-Bone slash fanfic isn't a thing yet.
 
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