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This Issue:
Online Community | Events
| Online Stores | Chance for the
Future | Hope for Tomorrow | Faith
in the Past | Upcoming Projects
Summer,
2003
First
of all, unless there is some groundbreaking news that I can't wait to
report, this newsletter is going to go quarterly. Between writing, editing,
shopping my work around, running the Sci-Fi Community at iUniverse and
giving any time at all to my bride to be, I just don't have time to put
something up here every month. That said, rather than minor updates, the
news each quarter should be just a little bit more than a mere update.
Of course,
if you haven't yet picked up your copy of "Faith in the Past,"
the third Fairlight novel, I encourage you to do so by clicking
here. There's also a link for the hardcover edition from that page.
I've been told it's the best one yet, so you don't want to miss out.
As noted,
there's lots of new stuff to report this summer, so read on...
iU
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Community
| PaulCarhart.com
Last time, I posted
a series of upcoming articles. Well, the first of them is finally done!
In the weeks to come, I will add some of the others. However, since
the POD article will first see print in the Pikes Peak Writers NewsMag
in September, I'm going to hold off until that releases before I re-publish
it online. If you're not a member of Pikes
Peak Writers, I highly recommend it. Not only do they put together
great bi-monthly workshops, they also put on the acclaimed Pikes
Peak Writers Conference and give conference discounts to PPW members.
Now on to the new
article:
Looking Forward
If you haven't yet
been to the new community, I encourage you to check it out.
Events
The 2003 Pikes Peak
Writers Conference was, by all accounts, a major success. What was my
role? Well, I was in charge of making sure everyone who possibly could
got to read in front of his or her requested agent or editor during
the Friday Afternoon Read & Critique, a duty I will reprise for
the 2004 conference.
As a member of the
conference steering committee, I also moderated and/or monitored seven
workshops or panels for the likes of Deb Stover and Linda Seger as well
as various agents and editors. I also hung out in the conference bookstore
with Dawn Smit, Joan Johnston and a personal favorite of mine, Kevin
J. Anderson. I also sat with Mr. Anderson at the final meal of the conference
where we joked and discussed all sorts of things.
On the Saturday
of the conference, I pitched One of the Girls to an enthusiastic
agent from the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Unfortunately, the agent
I pitched to doesn't handle Young Adult projects. She told me to send
the first fifty pages with my query to their YA agent, which I did shortly
after the conference. Unfortunately, the Dikjstra agency decided to
pass on the project. More on One of the Girls below.
One of the hot topics
this year was that of POD (Print On Demand publishing, for those of
you unfamiliar with the term). Thanks to an article I wrote (that will
be reprinted at the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Community in October) and a
little networking, I was asked to join the conference faculty this year
and sit on an alternative publishing panel which took
place on the last day of the conference (Sunday, April 27). The panel
was a success and I think it's safe to say that many people's perceptions
of POD may have been altered for the better as a result.
I also had a book
signing at the conference book store. All three of my Fairlight novels
were offered and I think I did pretty well. Kevin J. Anderson even stopped
by to say goodbye.
All in all, it was
a great experience and I met some fascinating people. I can't wait to
do it again. And next year, since I'm getting married this August, I'll
even have a date to the banquet!
The "wrap up"
article I wrote after my first visit to the conference can be found
in the Article Library at the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Community.
Online
Stores
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I know the
year is halfway over. Still, the coolest thing at the stores right
now is the Fairlight Calendar. Each month gets a different character
and I've done brand new art for many characters previously not
seen on any book cover (such as Kraatos and Marc Fairlight). In
my opinion, this calendar is still worth the money for the rest
of the year. Pick
one up today!
Don't forget
to visit the rest of the online stores:
CFTF
Online Store: http://www.cafepress.com/cftf_store
HFT Online Store:
http://www.cafepress.com/hft_store
FITP Online Store: http://www.cafepress.com/fitp_store
UPDATE:
THIS CALENDAR IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!
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The
Fairlight Novels: Chance
for the Future & Hope
for Tomorrow
What Caused Nik
Tavarone Join The Resistance?
Nik Tavarone seems to show up everywhere these days. The latest
appearance? Prisoners of Time: Collection of Speculative Ficition
is now available wherever you buy your books (although you may have
to special order it from brick and morter booksellers). This book features
some of the hottest new and undiscovered sci-fi talent around -- including
me! Nik's appearance is in Riot Act, the story of his escape
from a cleansing camp prior to joining the resistance. This book is
certainly a must-have for Fairlight collectors but is even more valuable
for the great stories that are inside. Available in paperback
and hard
cover.
Don't forget to
check out other Fairlight-related tales, Taking Chances and Saint
Nik (the newest Fairlight short tale), in the Short Stories section
of PaulCarhart.com.
Fairlight
#3: Faith in the Past
Get your copy
today!
The trade paperback edition of the third Fairlight novel, Faith in
the Past, is now available at just about every bookselling website
you can think of and can be ordered from pretty much any brick and morter
store you can think of. And the cover price is one dollar less than
the previous two books! Only $19.95! Get
yours today!
Special Hardcover
Collectors Edition of Faith in the Past
The special hardcover Collectors Edition of Faith in the Past
is also now available exclusively through the publisher. Get
yours today!
Upcoming
Projects
And now the usual
updating of projects. You may notice that I've once again rearranged
the order. What can I say? Sometimes projects are ready to work on.
Other times, they're not.
One of the
Girls
The second draft of my first Young Adult novel in what I hope to be
an ongoing series is now finished. I rushed it to completion right before
the Pike's Peak Writers Conference so I could pitch it to an agent (see
above). My test readers and editors are going through it now but
early feedback is extremely good and the copy seems to be surprisingly
clean. Check out a quote from one of my test readers/editors:
"I really
enjoyed reading this!! It was fast-paced and never lagged. It also
had some cute twists. Thanks for giving me a peek." - Rhonda
Greer
I expect all of
the corrections and feedback to come back before the July 4th weekend
and to have made the changes, including perhaps adding a couple short
bridge scenes, before I get married in August. After that, Lori has
promised to help me shop it around to agents and/or editors. I still
have high hopes for this book and its subsequent series to see traditional
publication.
Travel Tips
for Every Day
The fleshing out has begun. It shouldn't take too long to finally get
this little travel advice book with a twist into shape. Now that Faith
Restored has been plotted, I hope to get a first draft done before
plunging head first into the next Fairlight novel.
Faith Restored
So here we are again, back in the Fairlight universe. I know I originally
said I was going to work on projects that might interest potential agents
and/or editors before coming back here but I couldn't resist. After
finishing One of the Girls, I found that I missed the characters
from this series and this story was tugging at me. As a storyteller,
I decided that I needed to write what's screaming to get out. So, I
used the first few days of June to plot Faith Restored, which
continues the tumultuous relationship between Faith and Tannk, this
time largely from Tannk's point of view. It takes place immediately
following Chance for the Future and Faith in the Past (both
of which basically end at the same chronological point) and details
the battles between the resistance and the Government that ultimately
leads to the state of things in Hope for Tomorrow. There, I think
I phrased that so those who've been reading the books will know what
I'm talking about without ruining it for those who haven't yet read
it...
The book starts
with a prologue in first person, which is basically a journal entry
by Tannk. This prologue is designed to accomplish two tasks at once.
First, it is meant to bring readers up to speed if they haven't read
the previous books. Secondly, it sheds additional light on the Fairlight
universe that I have never had a chance to expose before, giving dedicated
readers a little something new to chew on. Early feedback is that the
prologue succeeds on both counts. Perhaps I'll post it next time around.
More as I write
it.
New Untitled
Series: Book One
I've got another idea I want to explore but it's just not all the way
there yet, which is why I chose to go back to the Fairlight universe
before getting to this one. I can't say any more at this point.
The Crockett
Chronicles
Chris and I have drawn a line in the sand. We're not going to
let any new Crockett exploits derail us from writing the stories we've
already mapped out. Anything new will have to go into a sequel or second
edition of this book. Still, there are quite a few mapped that need
to be written and I'm not sure when either of us will get to it.
Life is But
a Dream
This book's status is always changing. However, now that I'm getting
married, I feel that I might have additional or different things to
say when I finally do write it. Therefore, I've decided to put this
one off for awhile and see if it takes shape differently than what I
originally envisioned. When the time comes, I'll probably put it into
a proposal rather than write the whole thing so I can shop it around.
God bless and thanks
again for your support and readership!
Paul
M. Carhart
Author, The Fairlight Novels
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