Codex Born

I added one last link to the roundup (from Laura Resnick), but at this point I think that post has made its point pretty well.

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In totally unrelated but very happy news, the first review of Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] has been spotted in the wild!

Publishers Weekly says:

Nonstop action and laughter power Hines’s riveting second journey into the “peculiar life” of Isaac Vainio … Hines supplies everything a reader needs—werewolves, ghosts, robot insects, a fire spider that eats candy, and homages to classic SF—for a very good time.

Like many authors, I tend to be rather neurotic about how people will respond to a new book or story. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve done this before, I’m always afraid that this will be the time I crash and burn. This will be the book where everyone discovers I’m a total fraud.

(I’m now waiting for someone to respond, “Don’t worry, Jim! We figured that out four books ago!”)

Anyway, given the strong response to Libriomancer, I’ve been even more worried about whether or not the sequel would live up to expectations. And while I’m sure there will be disagreement and a range of reactions among readers — which is both normal and healthy — seeing that first positive review has been a tremendous relief.

Two months and counting!

Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] comes out in three months. To mark the occasion, I’ve posted the first chapter in .pdf and .epub formats.

For those of you who’ve asked how e-books work in a world of libriomancy, this chapter talks about that question. Or if you just want to read about Smudge eating a poetic raisin…

Download links:

• Acrobat .pdf version
• E-book .epub version

If you notice any problems with either file, please let me know.

Enjoy!

At 12:59 p.m. today, I turned in the final (I hope), revised manuscript for Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. Some random stats about the book:

• It came in at 104,527 words.
• There are 39 books in the bibliography.
• In addition to English, there are snippets from at least six other languages. (I apologize in advance to whoever will be reading the audio book…)
• Smudge once again gets a pretty cool scene.
• While I doubt I’ll ever write professional erotica, this book has what’s probably the “spiciest” scene I’ve ever done.
• Yes, this book will address–at least to some extent–the question of e-books and libriomancy.

The release is still scheduled for August 6 of this year. I’ll be posting the first chapter online as we get a bit closer to that date, once the book has been officially accepted.

This was a challenging one, but I’m proud of how it turned out, and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is due to my editor in nine days. I finished draft 4 on the 13th, and have been working through draft 4.1 to fit the final plot pieces into place, flesh out missing descriptions and transitions, and add a Firefly reference.

Most of my free time and energy is going into this last revision, which means blogging will be lighter than usual.

I’m happy with how this book has turned out. I’m amazed at how much it’s changed from the very first draft. I think it does a nice job of continuing the themes and ideas of the first book, and I’m hopeful that readers will get the same sense of excitement and wonder and fun.

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Several people asked if there was a way to see all of the cover poses I’d done in a single spot. Well, there is now! I’ll be adding more to that page eventually, but for now, it has links to all of the blog posts as well as a link to the Flickr gallery containing all of the poses.

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Oh, and I’m almost finished reading The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. This is a beautifully told story, and has cost me much-needed sleep these past few nights. And I’m not just saying that because GOBLINS!

I believe this one comes out in 2014. I’ll be putting a review together to go up closer to the release date.

I wanted to run this by folks before I send it in to my editor on Monday. This would be either on the back of the dust jacket or, more likely, in the cover flap for Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. Any and all feedback is welcome.

And thanks!

More

I originally wrote this piece on Saturday, planning to post it on October 1. Then we took a trip to the emergency room for some non-life-threatening but painful troubles my wife was having. That’s eaten up most of the past 48 hours. So I’m just going to post this today and pretend that October starts now and runs through November 2. That’s fair, right?

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For more than a decade now, I’ve done the majority of my writing during my lunch break at work. My coworkers have been generally understanding and supportive, which has been great. And looking back at the books and stories I’ve been able to put out, I’d say it’s worked.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been working quite as well with Codex Born. I’m not entirely sure why, though I have a number of theories…

• In general, each new book is more ambitious than the last, meaning in some ways, they get progressively harder to write, or require more time and energy to pull together.
• Part of my therapy process with depression has been trying to learn to take time for myself, to just relax or have fun. Which is a good and healthy thing, but I wonder if deliberately concentrating on those issues has whittled away from some of the time I used to use to concentrate on the fiction.
• Libriomancer is doing amazingly well, which is awesome, but it also means I’m feeling a lot more pressure to make book two as good or better. It’s a great problem to have, but it still means I’m putting additional pressure on myself, which might paradoxically be slowing me down.

I’m thinking about trying something I haven’t done in a long time. Back when I started writing books, we didn’t have National Novel Writing Month. We did have novel dares, though. Back in our day, we didn’t settle for just 50,000 words in a month. We wrote the entire novel. And we wrote uphill! Both ways!

I’ve started on the third draft of Codex Born. I’ve discarded several half-finished drafts, but I’m feeling more confident about this one, and I think I’ve worked through most of the problems that killed the earlier versions. So I’m setting myself a goal to finish this draft in October.

I expect to fail at this goal. Realistically, I think the odds of me completing a full, finished draft this month are pretty slim.

I know it’s not impossible. Heck, I wrote, revised, and started submitting Goblin Quest in about six weeks. But I was unemployed and living in my parents’ house at the time. Realistically, it will be a lot more difficult to do 80-90K words in the next 31 days. But I’m going to try.

And while I expect to fail, I also expect that the goal will help me mentally, and that it will be a more productive month. I’m also going to go back to posting word counts, which I haven’t done in ages, as another mind trick to keep me motivated and on track.

Wish me luck!

CODEX BORN has a cover! This is 99% final, but I’ve been given permission to share. Click on the pic for a larger view, if you like.

There are many things I like about this image. I’m happy that the artist, Gene Mollica, found an Indian model for Lena Greenwood. I love seeing her teamed up with Smudge.[1. Cover Trivia: Smudge has now appeared on more of my U.S. book covers than any other character.] And I think this fits well with the look of the first book.

I’m particularly pleased that when I tried Lena’s pose, I was able to do it without pain. I love the expression on her face, and the fact that she’s actually got some muscle on her. And while the outfit she’s wearing is rather revealing, it’s also completely in character. Lena might be dressed sexy, but she’s not posing as a sexual object. There’s no unnecessary thrusting of hips or chest. She’s dressed the way she likes, and she’s stepping out of her oak to kick someone’s ass.

Now, those of you who’ve read Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] have probably noticed where this version of Lena doesn’t match the text. When we first meet Lena in chapter one, she’s described thusly:

Lena Greenwood was the least imposing heroine you’d ever see. She was several inches shorter than me, heavyset but graceful as a dancer. I didn’t know her actual age, but she appeared to be in her early twenties, and was about as intimidating as a stuffed bear. A damned sexy bear, but not someone you’d expect to go toe-to-toe with your average monster.

Which raises the question: Why has Lena been “thinwashed,” for lack of a better word?

When my editor was talking to the artist, she asked me to provide description for Lena, which I did. Like I said, Gene Mollica does photo shoots with a model in his studio, then manipulates the best pictures into the cover art. He looked for models who matched my description of Lena.

This was the largest Indian model he could find.[2. While I’m certain there are larger models out there, I’m not sure what other constraints Gene was working with in terms of location, budget, and time. I do know there was a rush to get this cover done for the catalog.]

I have the portfolio shots of the rest, and this truly was the best option for Lena.

This is just one piece of the problem. If we had found a heavier model, I wonder if marketing would have nixed it because they didn’t think people would buy a book with a fat woman on the cover. It’s a moot point, since Gene couldn’t even find a fat model … is that because the modelling profession in particular is hostile to anyone larger than a size six? Or is it because we’ve mocked and shamed people for being fat until they wouldn’t even consider trying to model as a career?

What it comes down to is that our disdain and disgust for anyone overweight, particularly women, permeates our whole culture, and it pisses me off. You don’t want to know how young my daughter was the first time she came to us worrying about her weight. I do think we’re finally starting to figure out that maybe it’s not okay to mock people for their race or gender or sexual orientation, but fat people are still fair game, both in real life and on every movie and sitcom you see.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH US???

The Lena Greenwood on the CODEX BORN cover is a sexy, attractive woman. [3. As much or more because of her confidence and humor and strength than because of her body or the amount of skin she’s showing.] But you know what? The Lena Greenwood in my book is damned sexy and attractive too. And while I’m happy with this cover, and I think Gene did a nice job, I’m also disappointed that we don’t get to see that Lena Greenwood.

Because she’s awesome.

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