Closing out this part of the saga is going to be really difficult I'd say. The latter books in Part 1 (13,14,15) all need to be name dropping characters who will become semi/important in Part 2. They need to be important enough now to mention, an not important enough that the story they tell is a variation on Scott's.
In this respect the people governing the liberated worlds of the Core, The people in charge of the Ship building facilities, the people in charge of the major ships all seem like very important people and its good to know who they are. Traditionally though, they are not overly important characters in Ryk's books(ie they could be anybody/they don't effect the story and although they are individually powerful, they don't really have a whole lot to do). So how do we know who to route for in Part 2?
I believe its going to come down to it being a mix between Current Crews (of the Aurora, Celestia, Karuzara and Avandalh) and new recruits to them and other ships being introduced.
@rykbrown How do you develop characters for FS? Is it a case of pick a role, and guess what kind of person would want to be in that role and take it from there?
"(Nothing motivates people more than regular pay and medical benefits.)"
Really? I utterly disagree
@FourIslands: I'm not really sure how I develop characters. There's no formula that I use, that's for sure. Although, every primary or secondary character is based on either an actual person I have known, or a combination of people.
@mrfrost: I was joking.
@mrfrost - I utterly disagree with your utter disagreement.
See Uber's current problems.
@ericnay - Wow, are you an "uplifted" dolphin from Startide Rising?, if so, I'll pleasently talk about "Uber", otherwise, ich bin nicht interessiert.
After all my moaning and complaining about when 13 comes out I still havent read or the new net cast book even though both are loaded on my kindle, I just havent had the time to read plus am kinda suffering from reading burn out, I will probably wait till 14 is out and have a chilled week or weekend.
Thanks for the updates and great book keep up the amazing books
Chris
I think I am currently reading 12 different sagas to keep me busy while waiting for yours ;'-)
Ok, time to release 14. I am feeling like a junky wanting a fix.
Greetings - Time to hoist the What the heck flag. Anyone have an idea when we'll see episode 14? Now I've been good, since I've waited until August to ask and summer actually began June 21. Ryk, if you read this I'm not looking for a specific date as I know that doesn't work but it would be nice to know where we are in the process.
Mike
I would also like a status update for Ep 14 please?
Simmer down all. As of two weeks ago Ryk gave us an estimation on the time for delivery.
bustin hump trying to get 14 out in late August, but no promises on that one yet.
Nothing has changed since then. Wasting Ryk's time with impatience and queries trying to get his attention delays his progress, and only adds to the stress and weariness he undoubtedly experiences toward the final procession to release. It has ONLY been 121 days since the last release. Time to act like adults and remember those manners. Don't act like spoiled children demanding attention because you're in an online forum and no one is there to reprimand you for being an ass. Wait your turn, wait patiently, and remember to say thank you.
1) Said please
2) Asked for a status update, not the World
3) 121 days only if you ignore the Mini series, Fall of the Core, which lets not overlook this, its pretty good.
4) In two weeks Nathan Scott went from scrub Ensign to Captain of the Only Warship facing off against the biggest empire in 950 Light years and having formed the basis for a Earth/Corinari/Karazari Alliance.
5) Curiosity is built in to us humans, its whats going to kill us all! (remember splitting the atom - for science, and know that we can make antimatter now... for science)
So, here's the scoop:
When I started trying to outline #14, I didn't know where to go in order to get the story to where I needed it to be for #15. I experimented with different ideas and didn't really like any of them. So I started free-writing with only a very loose idea of where I wanted to go. The results didn't impress me, but they did open up some ideas that I then explored. They turned into something I loved, and they led to everything falling into place in wonderful fashion. So, boom I was able to outline books 14 AND 15 in just a couple weeks.
So now, I'm power writing both books back to back. It's looking very likely that book 14 will be out before the end of August, AND that book 15, (the conclusion to part 1) will come out within two months of that, probably in October.
I've discovered a wonderful way to timeline within Scrivener (the writing program that I use) that allows me to then extract an outline from it. This, the changes to my work setup, and the changes to my production chain, have helped my productivity.
Now, about Fall of the Core. (aka: the Netcasts) The original intent of the serialized shorts was to play Amazon's flawed KU payment system, and to create a series of monthly releases that would sustain me during a publishing break of the main saga while I outlined part 2. This would allow me to build up a 3 episode lead in order to get the audio books out at the same time as the digital and print versions, and also to give myself a deadline buffer for when life gets in the way.
Then Amazon fixed the flawed payment system in KU, making the serials not as effective as they once were. I also came to realize that a lot of people simply did not want to read shorts. More importantly, though, is that I realized that I cannot write two different stories at the same time. (I suspect that is what was making it so difficult for me to outline book 14. I had bumped myself 'out of the story zone' for the saga by working on the netcasts.)
So the plan now is book 14 in late August, 15 in October, Fall of the Core as an entire book in December, a novel I wrote before I started the Saga (also SciFi) will come out in February of 2106, and then the first episode of part 2 of the saga in April of 2016. That will give me the time I need to outline part 2 and write the first 3 episodes before releasing the first episode of part 2 in April of 2016, thus giving me that needed buffer, and without making anyone wait for more material. Even better, this will put me on a PERMANENT bi-monthly production cycle going into part 2, so that the novels will come out the middle of every even numbered month. No more 3, 4, or even 5 month waits between episodes. TWO MONTHS.
This had to happen. With the 5 parts of the saga, and with the ideas I have for tie-ins and spin-offs, I've still got about 100 books to write, and I'm not getting any younger.
Hello Ryk
I hope you don't have to end up sacrificing Quality for quantity and have one out every 2 months. I rather you raise the price of books and take 3 months and maintain the excellent quality books you've been producing. Yeah it sucks waiting for the next book in the series but I rather wait 3 months for a Superb book vs 2 months for a Good book. Not saying that's what will happen though. Just my 2 cents, I support you either way and have faith! Your books are the reason I got into reading again and a Kindle!
The issue for me has never been about how long it takes to write the book. To me, that is the easy part. Timelining, outlining, tweaking everything to be just right so that all the pieces fit and support one another, and make sense... That's the hard part.
It has taken me 14 books to FINALLY find a way to timeline, then outline, then write, and then polish (thru editing/proofreading) each episode. I always write better when I write fast. If I take me time, I get too wordy. Another issue has been getting my life in order and setting up the infrastructure needed so that I am not constantly being pulled away from the business of writing. Slowly, over time, those processes have been worked out.
I have always done the actual 'writing' of the books in about two months, at a pace of 2,000 words per day, but that was only because my hands, back, and butt couldn't take more than that. I have resolved those issues by using a 40" monitor in front of a recliner, and a truly ergonomic keyboard. (Kinesis Advantage) These things combined have given me the ability to easily write 5,000 and up each day, all without pain. I can now spend 8 hrs per day working, (actually, more like 6, since I take 15 minute breaks every hour) Mon-Fri, and still have evenings and weekends off with my wife.
The other issue has always been having to go through edits in a time crunch. That was one of the reasons I was planning on taking a year off from publishing the saga, so that I could build up a few episodes lead time in order to allow for more editing and proofreading. THAT is where the real quality control takes place.
So when I say that I'm looking to put out a new novel every 2 months instead of 3, 4, or 5, it's not because I'm writing faster, it's because I'm writing more, and I'm doing so more efficiently. It just took me 3 years to get my act together.
