O.K. so it’s be a bit longer than normal and I’m sorry. Post Christmas/New Years lag is my excuse. (I do really need to buy a new mattress so I can sleep better.)  Anyway, let me start by sending out a big “THANK YOU” for all of the comments and ideas shared on the last post.  I see some of the problems clearly, but I’m not sure we can fix them all before the series is over.  I guess I’ll just have to write another series and try to avoid the problems when I do.

Right, so let me address the LTUE (Life The Universe and Everything writers conference) question first, as it is only a week away.  I am not actually taking part in anything. Sorry, and it’s not really my fault. I volunteered to take part and said I’d do any of the panels they wanted me on… my mistake.  It seems that the people who said what panels they wanted to be on were assigned to those panels, and that was that. Also I’ve been told that some volunteers, who volunteered on their web-site, were sent to spam… Oooppps!  I will be there on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday. I promised to go to dinner with some friends, so I’ll be down Friday for that and decided just to stay on Saturday because I don’t want to drive home on Friday night.

About book five:  O.K. I’m currently doing one last edit before sending it to the publisher.  I am not allowed to comment on what may or may not happen. I can’t tell you the title.  I can’t tell you who is in the story or where the story happens.  The publisher has forbidden me to comment at this time.  I’m I little concerned about all the secrecy as I’m not sure what my publisher is thinking.  As soon as I am able, I will give out at least some details on book five.  I hope it will be soon.

Now… the real questions:

CT414:  I doubt that I will do a signing in Memphis TN. as part of the Adventurers Wanted series. I haven’t been asked, or told, to do any signings outside of the area I can drive to.  I think they are afraid to send me to the airport or something. Someday I will hope to make it to Memphis and a lot of other cities, but I have no idea when that will happen.

PorterRocks:  Technically, Yes.  If Alex and Andy go on another adventure together Andy would have to offer Alex his share of the primary treasure.  I’m sure Alex won’t take much.  The same is true, now, of Skeld after their adventure in Nezza.

Rhyme90:  I knew you would ask something strange.  Elfin vs. Elven… um?  I’m not sure which is correct, and I didn’t have any reason for using one and not the other. That is probably how I typed it in the original version of the story and it just never got changed.  (now I need to figure out which one is correct or if either will do.)

RedShoes:   If Alex Staff broke what would happen?  Well, that would depend on how it broke and what if anything Alex was doing with it at the time.  I’ve said before that the magic is in the wizard, not his staff. There is some magic in every staff, so even if Alex wasn’t using the staff when it broke I imagine something more than just a broken piece of wood. If Alex was using it at the time, well things could really get out of hand.  Staffs or stave’s if you prefer, are normally made by blacksmiths, but could be made by a wizard if needed. They are used to help wizards focus their powers, but also as a symbol of who a wizard is.  (Staff in hand, you might not want to mess with this guy.) And finally: Will Alex ever have an adventure in this world?  Maybe. It is planned for, but due to some questions about how long the series will be might change that.  (Don’t ask about the questions and how long the series will be, I don’t know any answers yet but will be talking to the publisher in the near future.)

JoeyBobHendersonthe4th:  I could and might make a book like the Silmarillion, but I don’t know if it would ever be published.  I did ask the publisher about doing a version of “The Adventurers Handbook”, and they aren’t too excited about the idea… books like that don’t sale like normal books.  We might do one on E-Book someday, but I’ll have to think about that.

And speaking of “The Adventurers Handbook”: Rhyme90. The handbook is a small book, it has some information about all the known lands, some good maps, some crappy maps, info on the top ten oracles, and a simple list of some of the creatures adventurers run into on adventures.  I wouldn’t call it a simple beastiary, as I don’t think it’s that good. I will point out that the info on some lands may not be as complete as you might hope.  Land X: A very wet land with many lakes and rivers.  Bring small boats if you can. While that might be true of part of land X, it may not be true of all of land X.  The descriptions are about the most visited areas of a land, not the entire land.

Branden Cox:  Yes, I am working on several other stories and a few that might be series.  Nothing is finished just yet, but I’ll let you know when we get closer.

Frank Duarte:  Thanks.  I don’t think I’ll change the “style” too much, but time changes all of us a little so… well, we’ll try to keep it in the same line.

Lightningclaw: I don’t think Moonslayer would have much effect on the Stoics.  Oh, it might take bigger chips off of them, but not much else.  And, there are several types of stoics. We only saw a Earth or Stone stoic and a water stoic. In the original version of that chapter there was also a fire stoic, but he got cut out.  See a pattern here? Earth, Water, Fire… Yes, mostly elemental things, and I was going to call the Elementals but my editor said, “No”.  We won’t go into that, but I’m thinking there are more than just the four normal elements as well, maybe metal, animal lesser, animal greater, and even magical stoics.  Or maybe they will all turn up in some other story.  *Oh, and if you didn’t take the hint when an oracle was not being friendly toward you… well, you might not need to worry about talking to the oracle or anyone else for a long time.

Rhyme90:  No, there are not “Angelic” blades.  The reason is simple. What most people call demons aren’t the religious kind of demon you are thinking of. They are semi-magical creatures who live in various places, not super natural creatures who fight with angles.  (Well, now that I think about it… no, no angelic blades in this series.)

Adventure Lover: Yes, that’s possible.  If you want to expound on your ideas but not on the blog you can email me at Bregnest@gmail.com

Prof. Z:  I don’t think we will have time in the series for Alex to go the Arconn’s homeland.  Too bad, that would have been fun.

Beth:  Fan fiction should be drawn as the fan sees it.  I wouldn’t think of telling anyone what or how to draw.  Well, except the guy who does the cover art, and that doesn’t do any good. (No, most of the cover art is great, it’s little details that drive me nuts and they are right to ignore me.)

Lightning Claw:  The dragon broaches… Alex had seven of them made, he gave one to Skeld’s wife and one to Tayo’s wife.  Guess who the other five are most likely for?  Or did he have eight made?  Better check that as I might be one short… dang it.

Brynn:  No, Dar Losh is not the reincarnation of Shahree.  Dar Losh is, however, an Alusian horse, which we know are generally smarter than other horses.  Dar Losh also seems to be a special horse, as no one but Alex could tame him.

Rhia101:  I hope I will explain the magic and the dragon and all that as we go. There is something special about dragon’s that are true silver.  For now I’ll just say that when Alex takes his dragon form in different lands he notices the magic of that land more, and also makes a magical connection to that land and its magic as a dragon.

elmore: I was hoping to finish off the paladin/shadow story in the series, but I’m not sure if I can fit it in or not.  I’ll keep looking for ways to finish that up, but no promises at this point.

Tallonis:  I’m not sure when the counsel of wizards will have a full and official meeting. I think Alex will meet at least part of the counsel in book six.

Dark Star:  Glad the advice is helping. Keep writing, it seems to get easier as you go… then you get writers block and go crazy for a time, but you don’t need to know about that.

Lightningclaw: (and anyone else trying to write.)  Stringing a book together can be hard, and I’m glad Tallonis talked about the “Bible” or story bible.  It’s basically just a notebook where you keep all the information you might need about your characters, the world, how magic works, what science exists, and so on for your story. Its a place you can go and check to make sure you aren’t breaking your own rules.  Stringing the story together for me is a bit different.  Oh, I have all the notes, but making one long story out of what is really a lot of short stories is the problem. I try to make each chapter a kind of short story, and then the next chapter is another short story about the same world or character.  The next chapter is the “What happens next”, part of your story. You want to lead your characters into dark and dangerous places, and out again. I’ve found that it really helps to have an overall plan for your story. You need to know where you are going and where you started before you can fill in all the exciting bits about how we got there. Outlining your story can help. Nothing too fancy, just a single page will work. Just list where we started and where we are going. Then put just a single line or so about how we get to our goal. You can add as much detail or as little as you like and need. The main idea of an outline is to keep you moving in the right direction. You don’t want to be going down the path to, well, let’s say your going to Mount Doom.  You really don’t want to get part way there and then say, “Oh look, a butterfly”, and wander off cashing butterflies.  Your outline is the voice that says, “Leave the butterflies alone and follow the path into the dark, scary, orc filled mine of Moria.”  (Oh, well that doesn’t sound so good now, but things work out in the end so that’s O.K. then.)  ***Yes, do check out Savages blog for some great ideas and info on writing.  One of these days I’ll guilt him into finishing his 100 tips in 100 days. (He says that he never said the days would be in a row.)

Maren: Alex’s dragon magic and his wizard magic are the same and different.  He has to think about using his wizard magic, and because that’s how he thinks, he has to also think about using his dragon magic.  There have been a few times when his dragon magic just worked. That’s because as a dragon, or at least for dragons who have always been dragons, like Salinor, magic is simply part of you. Dragon’s don’t need to stop and think about the magic they are going to use, they just use it.  Alex is still learning to let go and simply let his dragon magic work.  I think, if Alex can let go, his wizard magic might work the same way as his dragon magic.  No, Alex does not have more than the two true forms we know about. The oracle told Alex that the she thought the rains would come late. Originally I was going to have Alex use his dragon magic to hold back the rains, but that didn’t work out so well. Now I think the rains may have come late because the oracle did some magic of her own, but more likely they just came late that year… maybe to make it possible for the prophesy to come true, which means the magic of Nezza held back the rains.  Finally, about Alex’s family:  I did try to slip something in about his mom, that was in book three I think, but my editor made me take it out. I will try to include something more, but my editor gets mad at me when I move away from the main story to explain the past.