Grey Journal Mention

[A. E. Lowan]

There is heavy truth in this.

My thinking from here is to keep writing stuff in the vein of The New Magic for independent release, but use the mass-appeal style of Dragon's Trail and now Stonelands for the manuscripts we shop to traditional publishers.

For what it's worth, Coin of the Realm is coming out artsy AF:


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It's also the touchstone that sets up the entire saga, so, you know, no pressure or anything.

By the time I get into the series that follows Stonelands, readers may not grasp the full importance of some of the key plot points if they didn't read Coin of the Realm. I'll write each series to stand on its own, but each will carry far more weight if you know the history. (Stonelands has a couple of in-jokes and a cameo from Dragon's Trail, which made it immensely fun to write.)

I have to get Coin of the Realm exactly right, because not only is it a series finale, but it tees off seven more books. However, it's looking like the book that the fewest people are going to read, at least at release. So, that'll be fun.

First off, I love combining artsy AF with tense, thriller-style short form. Bring the two together and it can be brutally poetic, which is where I live and you nail it.

Second, I totally feel this pressure for perfection. We're setting up a 4 phase, multigenerational family saga in an urban fantasy universe as we write Book 3, and good heavens, what were we thinking? Today's cute little kids are tomorrow's homicidal protagonists. It's madness. But... it works, weirdly enough. The devil is in the details, like your in jokes and all the little things you have to keep in your head as you write (I live on OneNote.). Personally, we live for in jokes and the silly stuff that life throws at you. They're shorthand for more complex emotions and they bring the funny, which sometimes you sorely need while you destroy your reader. I'm a tremendous fan of gallows humor.

Third, I dearly love the beginning here. You set the scene, give us Jerrod in all his complex, crabby ass glory, and it's funny to me because I know him and this bit is so very Jarrod. The imagery is just on point. Perfection. It's also heartbreaking, and I won't spoiler why I think so. I love complicated and you're just right there. You made JV cry for an hour with The New Magic and I can't wait to see what you do next.

Fourth, no pressure. I like to say that if this game were easy, everyone would play. Chicks dig scars and glory lives forever. But I think the truth is harder. I think we're climbing a mountain made up of the bodies of the ones who quit. Cruel, maybe, but I'm also not a very nice person. You won't be one of those bodies, and neither will I. You have a hell of a job lined up for yourself, but I've known you for years and I know what you're capable of. The devil's in the details and for better or worse, one in joke and little bit of crucial information at a time, one day we will rule over this mountainous hell.

All of us, really, because this is our tribe and we believe in each other. I have faith in you, Malik. I know that kicking this thing off perfectly is absolutely within your capabilities, and you're going to have one hell of a story sequence and it's going to gut people. I love it.