The “I’m just going to scribble down this idea real quick” of a book that became Desert Book is finished, edited, polished, and off to my agent!
This was a fun, albeit sometimes grueling, book to write. I went into it without a clear plan and winged the first half. When I realized I wouldn’t be happy until it was finished I sat down, plotted out the universe, and wrote the rest. It’s a very intense, angry book with lots of layers. I wanted to play with setting and description so it isn’t quite as dry as some of my other books (*cough* The Day Before *cough*). It isn’t in a genre I’ve published in before (that’s okay, when I don’t have tech I can use magic).
I don’t know if I can call this a fun book, although some of the characters are very fun. It’s a book that moves like a summer flood in a canyon. It’s fast. It’s furious. It’s deadly. It’s beautiful at a distance but this is a burning land that you may not want to visit.
It’s now off with my agent after two rounds of edits with her. There might be one more round of edits, and then we’ll discuss markets, editors, and all that backstage business that makes up the machine of publishing. The very, very slow machine of publishing. Don’t expect any more announcements for another year or two. Publishing is just like that sometimes, and especially now.
Next Up On The Writing List: FLEET 3 – For Every Action
STATS!
Months To Complete: 17
Word Count: 111,000
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Working Titles: Bone Witch, Slave of Bone, Desert Book, Borrowed Knife
Inspiration: Rage and the West Coast (specifically California’s deserts and Oregon’s coast)
First Word: In
Last Word: Loved
Body Count: … um… I lost count? For named characters I think it’s around seven.
High Concept Pitch: (never used except to explain it to my beta readers)
GAME OF THRONES meets AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER in a world where soulmates can create magic.
Blurb: (hastily written at the last minute)
In a time of magic and storms the throne of the dying emperor is the focus of warring princes, loyal generals, and a slave woman who can read the future in the bones. Banished to the desert city of Kandelen, far from the sea that powers her magic, Iniya’s life balances on a knife’s edge: reveal too much of the future and the empire will fall to ruin; reveal too little, and her life is forfeit.
Death has always haunted her, whispered in her ear, tempted her with an escape from the harsh life under a tyrant’s rule, but things are changing in the desert. Surrounded by the lawless Firemothers, the wealthy merchants, and the spies of the empire Iniya sees a different future than the one the emperor wants. The bones promise her a better life – a new life – if she’s bold enough to steal the future of the empire for herself.
A vividly-imagined fantasy that explores the consequences of politicking–and the influence of women who want to change the world.