Desert Spear Update
Patrick Rothfuss had a recent blog post about the status of his second book, The Wise Man’s Fear. It was a post that really touched me, because while I do not know Mr. Rothfuss personally, his story in many ways felt like my story. I don’t have a legion of fanatics harassing me, but I know well the stress of suddenly having your hobby become your life, and how it can knock your feet out from under you, even as you put immense pressure on yourself to measure up against a successful first novel.
But Pat wrote a long post about the status of his book, and I think it lifted some of the weight off him. George RR Martin did something similar a few weeks ago.
So in that tradition, I would like to take a moment to update everyone on the status of The Desert Spear.
It’s done.
Sort of.
I woke up this morning knowing I was going to finish the book. I went to sleep at 3am last night, my eyes practically closing by themselves, knowing that I only had a little bit left to write, and that there would be no real obstacles left in doing so. Dani knew it, too, and packed up the baby to go to her parents’ house, so I could finish up in peace.
But then an interesting thing happened. I had an anxiety attack. A pretty bad one, as these things are measured. Usually these came when I was despairing that the book would never be finished, but I never imagined I would have one at the idea of writing “the end”.
Of course, it was the first time in my life I ever wrote the words “the end” knowing there was a paycheck on the other side of them. Not to mention the crippling fear that people won’t like Desert Spear because I didn’t just re-use the proven-successful template of The Painted Man/The Warded Man.
When Kermit the Frog was nervous before his movie audition in The Muppet Movie, Dr. Teeth gave him a valuable piece of advice: “Ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it,” he said.
Despite the fact that it came from a gold-toothed drug addict made of felt, I never forgot that advice, and I cling to it whenever fear or anxiety or nerves try to stop me from doing something. It’s gotten me through some difficult times.
So I pushed forward and did it. It’s done.
Sort of.
By “done”, I mean I have a complete first draft, beginning to end, that I finished mere minutes ago, and will shortly be sending to my editors at Del Rey and Voyager.
It does NOT mean the book is finalized, or that it will be out anytime soon, which includes the entirely arbitrary dates you see on Amazon.co.uk, where it is currently listed to publish in August/September. It may yet be out by then, or not. I don’t know and no one else does, either.
Why? Because there will be edits. Rewrites. More edits. More rewrites. Typesetting. Copyediting. Proofreading. It may be many months before the manuscript meets everyone’s standards, and don’t think I am exaggerating when I say my own standards will be twice as high as anyone else’s. Thrice as high. It’s my name on the damn thing, not to mention my grandfather’s name, and that is something I take very seriously. I will scrutinize every sentence, every word, every piece of punctuation in that massive 231,000 word file until I am convinced it is fit to stay. I daresay the final version released into the world will be a good deal shorter, and much better for it.
What I will say now, though, is that despite all the anxiety I have had (and will have in the future) over this manuscript, I look back at what I’ve done, and I am damn proud of it.
Can you picture that?
Thanks, Christy. I’ve always found that the authors I love the most are the ones who inspire me in my own work. I’m honored to have done the same for you. Good luck to you.
Just for that book thats supposed to teach you:
I know someone who tried to write a book by those rules and it didnt work at all, she had no ideas and a book without visions is not fascinating. Only when she first wrote her book and then used the lecturing to rewrite parts and make the second draft. That helped a lot, althought her book surely wont become a published one.
All the how-to books in the world can’t help without hard work and perseverance. even a bad book takes literally hundreds of hours to write, and good ones often take quite a bit more.
Most professional authors I know wrote one or more practice books before reaching a point where their work was good enough to sell. I wrote FOUR practice books, myself.
What’s important is to never give up, and keep striving to improve.
Hi there !
I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing book that you gave us. I ran onto “The Painted Man” by looking for a book during my holidays (in a Croatian Bookstore !)
Just by the cover and title i was eager to read it…and i spent 48h bent over it, stopping only to eat (reading until 4am drove my girlfriend mad ^^)
So please keep going as i haven’t read anything that good since the Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” !
And as soon as possible keep us informed of the releasing date of “The Desert Spear” (cause Amazon is always “cheating” about releasing dates 😡 )
Thanks again for your work, hope you have fully recovered from your anxiety problems !
A French Fan
Ps: oh and by the way, if the painted man is really made into a movie, PLEASE don’t let ANYONE tell you what to do…so many books are adapted to the big screen and ruined, i’d hate to see your book turning into a stupid blockbuster…it has loads more to offer to the audience !
Hey Florian. The Painted Man is on sale in Croatian bookstores? That is awesome.
The Amazon.co.uk date for The Desert Spear, April 5, 2010, is correct. Chances are some stores will even stock it on their shelves a few days before that. They have some leeway. Make friends with your local bookseller!
Thanks so much for the comment.
Hello!
Just want to thank you for writing the best book i have read in years.The Painted Man was absolutely fantastic!! I ran in to it in a Finnish bookstore on my lunchbreak from work. I read it in 3 days straight… It was mindblowingly good 😀
Thank you and i hope The Desert Spear will be published on time.. because we’re all waiting!!!
Your Finnish Fan
Now it’s on sale in Finland? Awesome. I need to update the map on my news page.
Thanks, Nino!
Hi,
Picked up your book at an airport bookshop in Sydney/Australia, and devoured it over a 4 hour flight and the rest of a sleepless night. I thought it was one of the most gripping books I have read ….. Was delighted to see ( according to the inside cover ) that the next book was due out in August ’09, and plunged into the depths of despair to find that it wasn’t out yet.
Really looking forward to the next installment, and trying very hard to be patient! Keep up the good work…
Steve in Oz
There have been a surprising number of people who have said the book carried them through a long flight. I should tell the marketing people to use that. Everyone needs an escape from cramped seating and bad food now and again. Thanks, Steve.
Cant wait for the next book to come out.. Actually I had a sudden fever last night was burning up… Anyway I woke up instantly thinking about the first book, re-read the entire thing and was driven to look for information on the next book on the series to come out.. Now that I found the info however I fear it will be painful to have to wait. 🙂
Hi Pete – purchased The Painted Man this week in Melbourne and just finished. I have read more SF books than I can remember – started with Edgar Riceborough – Mars series (hope the spelling is right). I truly loved your story – my heart went out to Arlen. So having read the comments ahead of me, I look forward to your story on Arlen and am very disappointed (but understand) the April 2010 release date for Desert Spear.
PS Loved the cover
Wow I loved the Painted Man I haven’t read much lately and accidently picked it up in a train station. I was disappointed when I arrived at my destination…..and like everyone else I was addicted and carried on throught the night stopping only for tea. I’m thirsty to read more, thanks for getting back to reading and I look forward to the desert spear. Congratulations on your success with this 1st novel and try forget the added pressures and concentrate on what your good at….writing!
Hello there
I am very much new here, however i have been a fanatsy/sci-fi fan from the age of 12. The author that hooked me up to this genre (no it wasn’t JRR Tolkein) was the late Robert Jordan.
Sir i dont know if you have read his work (of course you have ignore that) but his series The Wheel of Time is absolutely fantastic howver some of the latter books were a bit anti-climatic but still brilliant books. What I am tring to say is that the demon trilogy has one of the best and most original fantasy plots ever written and I ceratinly speak for myself when i say that i can undestand how difficult it is to write books that can fullfill the expectaions of such a high class series and even if The Desert Spear is by any off chance a slight bit awry, well i will just say you have already immortalised the series along with the likes of The Wheel Of Time, The lord of The Rings, The Dragonmaster, the Rift Wars, the Shadowleague and so many more. So just keep up the good work and dont worry about us naging fans.
P.S. By the way when IS it coming out, just joking!!!!!….no seriously tell the publishers to hurry up, just cant wait!
Thanks everyone!
Sabbir, I am actually a big Jordan fan myself. It’s an honor to be considered in such company. The early WoT books are unstoppable. I think he lost the thread a bit in the latter books, but there’s a lesson there about trying to juggle too many ongoing POV characters. A similar lesson can be learned by A Song of Ice and Fire, though GRRM has managed to keep it together so far.
I know well the temptation to constantly keep changing POV’s (The Desert Spear will have 8: 4 major and 4 minor), but having learned from the missteps of better authors than I, I am going to try and dodge that spear and rein it in before they get out of control.
Thank you for writing such an excellent book.
Well, what can one say about that book other than wow, a lovely compelling tale, once I picked it up I quite literally couldnt put it down. I bought the book in England, waterstones in a town called Southport and had finished it 3 hours later a small problem of mine when I’ve begun reading a series that isnt complete, looking forward to the next one and the staff at the waterstones now dread me coming to ask, now I have a date they will be pleased thank you for such a story
Valentin, thanks for reading!
Mark, you read The Painted Man in 3 hours?! That’s… a page ever 20 seconds. Good lord. It’s okay to come up for air now and then.
But I take it as a great compliment that you didn’t. 🙂
that sounds about right, downside is I never get to finish a story, unless the complete set is out. I have a small library of which your book is a centerpiece along with the complete set of Terry Brooks shannara stories including “the Word and the Void” and “Genesis of Shannara”
the painted man was a great book and i look forward to the rest of the series. thank you for your contributions to my brain.
Good news. I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series and so is a friend of mine who I convinced to read the first book and is also now hanging out for the second as well.
I’d rather wait a bit for a well written book than get something rushed that’s just ordinary.
Hi i’m from Portugal and i would just like to say that the Painted Man, was one of the best books i have ever read, i’m anxious to read the next one!
Thank you very much!
First time I’ve flet the need to blog about a book, but wow! I never thought I would read a book i’ve enjoyed more than the WoT series. Just like to say thanks for writing such a master piece!!
Hey Peter,
On the one hand I have to say: I really can’t wait for the second part of the series to be hold in my hands. The first one was a page turner I read in no time though English is not my mother tongue.
On the other hand I’d like to say: Even though your blog post implies that you seem to have the second book done: Take all the time you need!
🙂 Always take the time you need and what you do will become something precious.
Peter,
I just finished The Warded Man a couple of days ago; for me that was a feat in itself. I so rarely have the time to read anymore. You know how it is…work, kids, mortgage, more work. It is enough to make one forget that they used to have a slower paced life B.R. (Before Responsibility), one that allowed them to curl up with a good book, and put it down when it was an appropriate place in the tale, when it made sense to do that, not because you had to.
But with The Warded man…I found myself there again. Your story pulled me in, as if it was I who had gone insubstantial and was heading down to your core, the root of your tale. I read, and I read…and I read. I made time for myself, and for your worlds’ inhabitants who were afraid of the night. This time I did not always set a book down because the kids, or my wife needed my time, interrupting the flow and feeling. This time I stayed with it, until the feeling that your story generated permeated completely, until I felt I could get no more from the wordplay at that sitting…and that is a testament to your skill, Sir.
You have something there, and it is more than a tale. You made a world; believeable, interesting, and at times mesmerizing. I am not just “interested” in your characters; I find myself empathizing with them. And for a few brief moments at times, I can see what they see; the fear, the terror, the joys…the hope. I look forward to their future; and now mine, since you have given me a reason to truly read again.
And for that I thank you.
Sincerely, Russell
Wow, Russel. That’s really nice of you to say. Thank you.
Thanks to everyone, really, for all the praise and support. I know I don’t chime in enough and say it, but these comments have meant a lot to me.
hey
just thought id say that Painted Man was a great book, filled with all the stuff a young reader requires, good story line, action, some romance and a great cast of characters. i haven’t got to reading your other work but if they are of similar quality ill have the whole collection on my book self no problem.
just thought i write that message
Just thought I’d post to say I have finished the book for the Painted Man for the second time and can’t wait for the Desert Spear.
As a man who owns over 100 fantasy books it is one of my favourite books coming close to my all time fave the Wheel of Time books.
It’s about time someone came up with a way to portray fantasy in an exsiting new format.
Good luck with the launch 🙂
Hi There
Although i know better than to pay attention to Amazon release dates as usually they have no basis in fact we are however getting so very very close to the current one. Do we know if this is actually acurate and all my waiting on tender hocks for the next installment is actually nearly at an end? Do i dare to dream? The Painted Man was fantastic and i must have read it 10 times just waiting for the next book (which i will prbably read another 10 times) PLease don’t let my hopes be dashed (i don’t blame you, Peter, i blame silly Amazon for printing rubbish release dates)
Thanks, everyone!
Holly, if you’re in the US, the April 13 date is solid. I think the books are already printed, so barring some unforeseen disaster, we’re good. The UK date of April 5 I am not positive about. Some UK stores put books out a little early, or there might be a slight delay, but I am flying to England for London Book Fair on April 15 and have been assured the book will be out then.
Anyone in the London area will be able to get signed copies in April, BTW. There will be public signings, and I will also try to hit all the big bookstores personally and sign their shelf stock.
I’ll be doing the same in Manhattan on April 13, with a public signing in NYC later in the month.
Hi Peat,
I loved “The Painted Man”, can’t wait to read the next one.
I would like to ask you something, i hear about and intention of making a movie out of the novel, what could you tell us about it.
Regards,
Portuguese fan
Hey Pedro,
Thanks! The series has been optioned by Director Paul Anderson, and is in preparation to be pitched to studios sometime in the near future.
Believe me, as soon as there is more to tell, I will blog all about it!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ide843f7bf07c511f8d9054c297ba0798
Look, mate, I’m a big fan of fantasy, and I’m far more well read then any logical human being should be.
Your work is solid, consistent and inspired. I just read a sample chapter of The Desert Spear, and I already despise the Krasians with a passion. But just read up heavily on battlefield tactics before you go doing the big old epic battles. Flank attacks often fail; the worst men are at the rear.
Too many times have I seen a promising author lose credence by saying that Cavalry can be stopped by determined Infantry, or watching men flee a winning battle when their Leader dies.
Other then that – I applaud you, good sir.
Like one of the other posts here, I loved the painted man that I bought a special signed edition. I would also be interested to hear about any signings. Will you be doing any in Birmingham?
It looks like all my April signings will be in London. I tried to set one up in Manchester, but there were schedule conflicts. You should be able to order a signed book from The Forbidden Planet or Goldsboro Books, though.
Dear Peter,
Finished reading Desert Spear on Saturday, again like the Painted Man, fantastic. I cannot wait for the next installment!
I can honestly stated that even amongst other authors I had read, including George RR Martin, Robin Hobb, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan etc, your books are by far my favorite.
I will definately try and source a signed copy and hopefully any limited editions available.
Absolutely brilliant, so how long to the next?!
David
It would appear I got my book early as none of the usual sources have any signed copies of the Desert Spear yet. Will there by any special editions to watch out for as there was for the Painted man?
Peter,
I am a college student in Colorado, USA. I picked up The Warded Man about a week ago at a book store, and 5 hours later set it down. Ive been reading (or having them read to me) fantasy novels since about 20 minutes after I was born, and I eagerly await the rest of this series to the same degree as Harry Potter, The Dark Tower, Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, Song of Ice and Fire, and many, many more. Take precisely as much time as you need to perfect the novels and then enough for one more read-through. Please, Please, Please never ever rush a book to meet some arbitrary deadline or relieve fan pressure.
Thanks,
jblack
P.S. Will there be any chance of signings on this side of the pond?
What can I say disappointed, I’ve finished it and now have nothing to read :(. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t rush it but found it compelling, even after re-reading the painted man before just to have the whole story fresh in my head.
Outstanding, really thoroughly enjoyed every chapter. Look forward to your next book.
Hertfordshire .UK
Thanks, everyone!
jblack, I’m a New Yorker, so I’m always on this side of the pond. No Colorado signings planned, but if you e-mail BookplatesPVB@aol.com with your address, I’ll send you a signed plate to stick in your copy.
That goes for the rest of you, too, until I run out of plates.
finished desert spear recently, and eagerly await the 3rd addition 🙂
Picked up the desert spear and couldnt put it down till i finished it, the same as painted man. cant wait for the next one. keep up the good work
The second book was just as captivating as the first. I could not seem to put it down until I read it twice, specially loved the ending. I also reread the warded man before just to have the story straight. I am really looking forward to your works in the future.
Hi, just wanted to say that I whole heartedly agree with everyone else in this thread. I loved the first book and eagerly awaited the second.
I couldn’t put it down and now I just have to know what comes in the third.
Keep up the good work, I am going back to re-read both again.
I devoured The Desert Spear like a coreling! It is an awesome story told and I couldn’t put it down at all till I finished. Fantastic work Peat, I can’t wait for part 3(: -allthewayfromsingapore(:
Well wow… I found the first book in a used book store and it sat on my shelf for months before I got around to reading it and I was amazed at the quality of the first book. I could not put it down and soon found myself buying the second. Today I was sitting down to do design work for my ongoing 4th edition dungeons and dragons game and thought hmm that would be a good world stopover for paragon / epic level characters. Lets search for some maps / info on the web.
Imagine my surprise to find not only a full list of wards here but a map and your own personal character sheet! No wounder your work has that involved action element if you have been gaming lol
Rock on man keep the books coming and give us old pen and paper gamers a pile of material to work with heck if you put out a world book for the new dnd I would stand in line to buy it!
Bought the first book on itunes while browsing and thought ‘why not?’. Totally hooked, and went direct to Desert Spear which I just finished and loved more than the Painted Man. You know when its a really good book when you finish and you feel like you’ve lost something because there’s no more to read. What next? When? I can hardly wait.
I have loved your books ever since i bought ‘The Warded Man’ back in 2009! I have read both TWM and DS multiple times, thank you for writing your books, and thank you for the amazing story lines, great characters, and a world so different from everything else out there! keep up the awesome work!!
ps. CANT WAIT FOR ‘THE DAYLIGHT WAR’. I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Hey Mr, Brett. I just want to let you know that i love your book. Having just read it for the umpteenth time, i am really looking forward to the next book. You are one of my favorite authors, and i love your stuff. Thank you for showing me into the world of Thesia.
Hi. I am a 14 year old guy. I have read both of u’r books and i could’nt let go of them. And i would like to hear. Are a third one coming?
Hi, when is your 3rd book due to be released ?