R.T.’s
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(group member since Dec 02, 2010)
R.T.’s
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from the Q&A with R.T. Kaelin group.
Showing 1-17 of 17
FYI - The new edition is out now for the Kindle.
Here's a link to the opening: http://rtkaelin.com/Prologue.html
There's good news/bad news.Good news: book 2 is done. I finished the last round of edits about 3-4 weeks ago.
Bad news: I'm not sure when it's coming out.
I have a few leads on agents regarding Progeny, and I'm hesitant to release the second book before giving the first a real chance to take off. Sales have been really good and have been increasing every month. I've even hit #6 on Amazon's Top Rated Epic Fantasy for Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=s...
#15 for Top Rated Fantasy, period.
My immediate plans:
1. Re-editing Progeny itself (for agent submissions). The weakest part of the book were the first few chapters. My writing and style were nowhere near mature enough. I'm 8 chapters into that have got past making giant edits. In a week or so, I expect to re-release Progeny on Kindle with the first 1/3 of the book redone. Good news: there's a new Prologue that I'm including.
2. I'm resuming the Terrene Chronicles short stories. The 10th in the series is written and I'm editing it as well. I expect it will come out shortly, too. The title of #10 is Companions and the three-story bundle is Deception. They follow a character from Progeny starting about 12 years in the past, prior to the events in the book.
Feel free to comment on the Terrene Chronicles available at http://www.progenythebook.com/The-Ter....The Terrene Chronicles will be a series of short stories inspired by past events only alluded to in R.T. Kaelin’s high fantasy novel, Progeny. Reader response to the novel has prompted the author to write and publish a set of standalone short stories inspired by historical events referenced in Progeny.
Fans of the first volume in the Children of the White Lions have stated their desire to know more about the expansive world of Terrene and its rich history. The Terrene Chronicles will give old and new readers alike a chance to see what shaped the people, countries, and events of the world of Terrene.
The stories will be release here at the website as well as bundled together and sold for the Kindle. The first story will be released on Tuesday, March 8th.
An ongoing chat with me at LibraryThing.com:http://www.librarything.com/topic/107285
Runs through January 24th.
I used some words from certain languages, but mostly used consistent phoenetic patterns of those languages for various cultures/settings to give a cohesive quality to some groups. (For the most part - I do have definitive intent behind the inclusion of a specific language.) Finnish is indeed one of the origin languages I used. Funny how you picked up on that.
The simplest way to explain is to use another excerpt from the book:"The pattern he wove was so ultimately familiar to him, thinking about it was like consciously thinking of drawing air when he was breathing. Pulling at the verdant Strands of Life, golden Strands of Will, and the silvery Strands of Soul, he arranged them in the right order, overlaying some and intertwining others. It was easy to make this Weave in the wilderness with so many of the right sort of Strands nearby. It took much more energy to pull necessary Strands over great distances."
In your example, a mage that is a master of Water could summon forth Strands of Water in the middle of a desert, but it would take a toll. A mage that has only marginal skill might be out of luck, though. That, or they'd knock themselves unconcious.
Some mages that can touch fire are known to carry a burning ember with them to ease the effort it takes to weave Strands of Fire.
Another school has graciously agreed to have me speak with some of their studetns. I will be heading to Pickerington North High School in late January...date still TBD.
I've only read some of Jordan - I was never able to stick with the Wheel of Time series. Still, one may see similarities - but only in the sense the word 'weave' is used.Ultimately, Strands are what mages use to create Weaves.
There are nine types of Stands, each unique and powerful, pure energy and essence of what they represent. They can be woven into patterns on their own or combined with other types of Strands into designs that have be researched and taught for thousands of years by practitioners of the art. If a mage gets a pattern wrong as he or she creates a Weave, there can be unanticipated results.
Most of the population of Terrene have will never be able to work the Strands. Those that can are born with the ability but may not come to realize it until later in life. If a person has been gifted with the ability to sense or touch the Strands, they are often limited to two, three, or rarely four types. Throughout the recorded history of the nations of Terrene, there have been only a handful of times anyone can touch all nine. Such a person is a Masterweaver.
Here's an excerpt regarding an encounter with a type of Strand...
"Just beyond arm’s length, a glimmering, glittering string of white shimmered into view before her, hanging in the air. It dangled there, light and airy, waving as though a soft breeze were teasing it, blowing ripples through it. Slowly pulsating with bright white light, it fluttered before her, almost beckoning Kenders to reach out and take it. The strand appeared to be only a few feet long, although when she tried to judge the true length, she found she could not. As her eyes traveled up or down the string, the part she had just surveyed diminished, weakening and fading from sight. She could not say whether she ever saw the start or end of the string."
It needs to be noted that in the Oaken Duchies, magic was outlawed over three hundred years before. Anyone caught doing anything with magic is captured and disappears. It's not like that throughout the world of Terrene, though. An in Progeny, we get a taste of how things work in both situations.
All very good ideas...And if magic wasn't outlawed in the Oaken Duchies, I could see some of the things you've mentioned.
Terrene's a big world, though... who knows what else exists out there, though?
I will also be talking to Pickerington Central High School this month in less than two weeks. Perhaps I can beg a teacher to take a few photos that I can share.
Uriah - As good as choice as any. The question is what ways can your imagination come with to mix the Strands together?Some mages that can touch Soul, Charge, and Life have learned to Weave the correct pattern to craft nearly-sentient lightning elementals. They're rare, but still.
What could be made with Stone, Life, and Water, I wonder?
I've been invited to a local high school in Columbus to speak to their sophomore English classes about Creative Writing and Story Craft. There are a number of other schools I am in contact with, but Canal Winchester is the first confirmed stop.
This is a thread where I'll make various announcements about events or news surrounding Progeny.
Mages are not common on Terrene, but those that are gifted with the ability to see or work with the Strands can normally only work with three of the nine kind (except for a number of important folk...).So - if you could weave the Strands - which three would you pick?
Green Strands of Life
Silver Strands of Soul
Brown Strands of Stone
Blue Strands of Water
Orange Strands of Fire
White Strands of Air
Golden Strands of Will
Black Strands of Void
Yellow Strands of Charge
Progeny has a number of characters, many whom get to share their perspective as the story unfolds.Who's your favorite character and why?
As you read Progeny, if you have any questions about anything in the book - where an idea came from, why I approached something from a certain direction, anything... ask and I'll try to answer.Try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
