Howard Andrew Jones's page

will you create more novels ?

Are you asking me in particular, or Paizo in general?

I'm not sure what Paizo plans. I'd probably be up for writing more in the Pathfinder line. Certainly I had big plans for the characters from Beyond the Pool of Stars and Through the Gate in the Sea, and I bet I could come up with a few more Elyana novels as well.

My newest fantasy novel, the first in an action-packed fantasy trilogy from St. Martin's, was just released in March, and the second is coming out in November, and of course I have four Pathfinder novels and two historical fantasy books that are already available... and I'm always writing more. You can keep up to date with my doings at www.howardandrewjones.com

Is this ever going to come out in audiobook format?

I've been checking audible every few weeks but still nothing.

I'm afraid that I'm out of the loop on that -- sorry! I'll see if I can flag someone down who might know.

Howard Andrew Jones wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Can't wait to read this! Still need to finish Beyond the Poool of Stars though >_<

Hope you like 'em both. I think the first leads rather easily into the second, sort of like a double-feature!

Cool! And I'm liking Pool so far ^w^

Let me know what you think! And thanks for trying it out.

...Incidentally, I apologize for the delay. I had lost track of when this essay was going to go live...

I love Howard's books. I'm not even finished with this one and I'm hoping for a third with these characters.

Thanks! What I'd honestly LOVE to do would be to write an honest-to-God trilogy (I mean three MORE books, not just one more), but I haven't approached James about that, because I've been writing an honest-to-God trilogy for St. Martin's. But I definitely want to come back to these characters and do a big multi-part quest sequence, if Paizo will let me.

Plague of Shadows and Beyond the Pool of Stars are not just hugely ssatisfying novels but hugely satisfying gamer novels.

HAJ is great at putting a coherent story around an adventuring party, rather than a single protagonist or duo.

Hey, thanks for that! Something I'm definitely trying to do, so I appreciate you noticing!

Can't wait to read this! Still need to finish Beyond the Poool of Stars though >_<

Hope you like 'em both. I think the first leads rather easily into the second, sort of like a double-feature!

Thanks Howard, that was fun to read. I've been reading through the Pathfinder novels in release order and just finished Plague of Shadows yesterday. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to getting to your subsequent books.

Glad you enjoyed the essay! (And if you want to skip ahead, I won't tell anyone...)

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed the book!

Thank you! I'm honestly thrilled to hear that.

What Chris said. He is a wise (and kind and talented) man.

A VERY long time. And I'm not sure I'd actually be there yet if I hadn't had the good sense to be married to a doctor. Sometimes there's a very long break between signing checks, royalty checks, and all that. I imagine once, or if, you're lucky enough to have a number of books in print that are selling and steadily earning royalties there'd be something of a steady income and regular checks rolling in.

Mr. Howard Andrew Jones! It was great to meet you at GenCon, and thank you for your words of wisdom. I feel like I know Elyana better just from your comments, and the low magic settings make perfect sense now.

Although I take some pride in being the quartermaster of my group, a part of me always feels just a little bit strange about being able to sell off all different kinds of loot regardless of supply and demand, then going "shopping" for anything and everything that has a GP value to try and survive our next adventure. I'd actually like to try low magic settings in a game, if only for the challenge of playing a character that relied purely on her skills rather than depending on her tools, similar to Elyana. [I hope you know I was being facetious about giving her a magic bow...]

Stalking the Beast

It was a pleasure to meet you! I only wish I'd had a few more copies of BEYOND THE POOL OF STARS because I would very much have liked to sent you home with one of the advance copies.

I've realized recently that other people have been gaming differently me for years. I guess we all bring something different to the table, but I didn't realize just how different my own low-magic approach was when compared to what other people do until I began reading more and more fantasy game novels. I suppose you're doing it right as a GM so long as your players are having fun, and I think most of mine have been over the years. Mine haven't complained, but I see that perhaps the expected standard is different from what I'm used to giving.

I thought I'd loosened up a little and brought more magic in with POOL OF STARS but, having just read some other Pathfinder novels I realize that, no, not that much more. I have a hard time enjoying playing in a super magic rich environment as well as writing in one. I guess I just have a natural inclination to keep it a little grittier. That's one of the reasons I like setting things out in the wilds where I have more of an excuse to keep things simpler.

Hey Berselius!

Hopefully you'll know the answer to those and other questions very soon...

It's been a lot of fun sitting back and watching the discussion. I've wanted to pop in and comment several times now, but I thought it might be best if I waited until you'd finished discussing the first book.

It seems like you found a lot in the story that I hope readers will find. I'm especially pleased that you saw Elyana's complexity, and her tendencies to let things go.

As to magic -- as a GM, I've always preferred low magic settings. I grew up reading (and re-reading) sword-and-sorcery originators like Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber, which is why I still lean on the side of lower magic item availability and casting, and almost no magical healing.

Likewise, because of my personal preferences, when I run Pathfinder I don't run the game with the default settings "as is;" rather I dial down on magical availability of things, and I significantly downplay the sorcerous ability of character classes like rangers. (I also make magical healing far more rare.) For novel writing purpose I dialed available magic up a little more towards the default setting, but, honestly, Elyana is still using fewer spells than she probably would be for a character her level, which is why I decided she's probably mutliclassed with Fighter. And probably there ought to be more magic lying about... but I just don't like that as much.

My own mindset on this is also why Elyana's not tricked out with a whole lot of magical gewgaws. Also, part of the tendency of hers to just let stuff be is my own fondness for Greek myth. When those heroes were done with a magical item it just vanished from the tale and they had to go find a new one, or, more often, manage without it.

I do try to keep close watch on how spells and rules work, and James and the team are good at keeping me on track there, as well as giving me leave to invent weird monsters. (I think at least one I cooked up in PoS turned up in a Bestiary later.) Anyway, while I do try to play to the rules, I try to craft the story first, and where there's a collision between story and rule story wins out.

I am not a great "fine-grain sandpaper" GM, because I tend to forget about multiple layers of rules or even grow frustrated with them. I've always been more about the story, and I believe decades of GMing various games, starting with 2nd edition D&D helped me develop my writing chops. When I run Pathfinder I tend to lean on another gamer friend when we come to upper level combat because I end up spending too much time flipping back and forth in rule books, which slows down the story. There are probably a number of rules that I'm not completely aware of, so I was pleased that one reviewer saw one of the plot developments in Stalking the Beast as rising naturally because of some rule or other that I hadn't remembered. It's great when those sorts of things seem planned...

John Kretzer wrote:

So how was Gencon?

Anything exciting happened that you can share?

Had a fantastic time at GenCon, especially hanging out with Howard... We only see each other once a year, so sipping a beer with him and catching up is great. ...

So, yeah...a good GenCon. You were missed, Dave!

You were, Dave. We would have loved to have had you there with us!

Chris was the first familiar face I saw. We've gotten to be pretty good friends over the last few years, and I love kicking back with him and his wife both in and out of the con.

Chris, I tried to swing by your booth in author's row on the way out, but I didn't spot you -- but then by that point I was flagging. I probably could have done with a better night's sleep before I started the (relatively short) drive home.

A while back in another thread, someone asked when I planned to do a Calgary signing. At the time, I wasn't sure.

Now the answer is, "Next Thursday."

It's at the Sentry Box, the best game store I've ever found (with its own bookstore nestled inside). Riding shotgun on the Red Carriage is the estimable Vanessa Cardui, Calgarian filker extraordinaire.

Hope to see some of you cowboys and cowgirls there.

* Edited because Thursday isn't a Wednesday.

I've always wanted to visit that store. I've ordered some stuff from them over the years. Seems like they have a great selection of hard to find stuff!

Any hobknobbing with the incoming new authors?

I spent a lot of time at the booth with Josh and Gary and got to know them a little better. Chris Jackson and James Sutter and Michael Stackpole I've known for a lot longer and now sitting down with them is a little like a reunion. I also visited briefly with Richard Lee Byers and of course Wes Schneider, who has a novel coming down the pike any month now. I think his book debuts just after my next one.

I spent a little time with incoming Pathfinder author Sam Sykes, having met him many times over the years. He has a hilarious, sly, and frequently gross sense of humor and can get you laughing even while you're groaning. Like Sam, Max Gladstone is a Tor author who'll be doing some Pathfinder work soon, and I was introduced to him by James Sutter Wednesday evening. He's well-spoken with a sharp wit and good singing voice, as I learned when he and Scott Lynch and Elizabeth Bear and Maurice Broaddus and I were fooling around with songs that could be adapted for a Batman musical. As Bear said, Max is built on too many points, because he's also a black belt in multiple disciplines.

We discovered an inordinate number of black belts amongst the author and editorial pool at the con this year. I'm currently working toward my second degree black belt, which usually sounds impressive, but I was surrounded by people who didn't just have a second degree, but had black belts in multiple schools. It was amusing one night when James suddenly realized that five out of the seven nearest people had black belts, with my "partway to second degree" as the least advanced. Usually you have to be at a dojo or tournament to have that many martial artists next to you!

I don't know that there were any truly hilarious moments, but we kept ourselves amused. I probably laughed the most at the Friday and Saturday night dinners when out with Lynch, Bear, Gladstone, and Broaddus (we were joined by Reddit's Steve Drew Saturday). There was the point when Bear tried to decide what part our dinner crew would play on a CSI or Mission Impossible movie, or the aforementioned Batman musical, or pretending we were strangers and introducing ourselves to each other under ridiculous assumed names at a steak house Saturday. I thing that part at least was funny to outsiders because the concierge behind us began snorting with laughter.

As for excitement, I always have a blast at GenCon. The hall of treasures is a wonder, of course, and I think the Writer's Symposium portion of the con is one of the best run writer's conferences around. If you're a writer or thinking of becoming one or just a reader who wants to learn how it's done, the Writer's Symposium panels are a great source of information, and afterward you can get the chance to talk to a lot of your favorite writers. Because GenCon is a gaming convention there aren't as many regular fantasy fans mobbing the authors, so, for instance, you can bump into Pat Rothfuss wandering the halls, or not wait in line after a panel to speak to Elizabeth Bear or Michael Stackpole.

I really enjoyed it. Was the 'old school' vibe to the flashback adventures deliberate? That is, I really got the feeling that the 'prequel' campaign was played in AD&D, while the 'present' was the sequel campaign for Pathfinder.

Thank you.

The old school vibe wasn't deliberate, but now that I think of it, I'm not surprised. I have YEARS of old school fantasy gaming to draw on before I started playing Pathfinder, so it makes sense that it would color my fiction a little. It's interesting that you felt an AD&D vibe, because that's exactly what I played for many years. I suppose it's always going to be there as a subconscious influence...

I've owned cats for many years, and yes, they are true neutral, but cuddly. They are neutral cuddly. They have very high charisma and know it... Much fun writing them...

Well said, Chris. They're very self-sufficient except when they deign that you are to give them attention. One wonders how much loyalty most of them really have. I guess there's some, or the barn cat that adopted us wouldn't keep hanging around the property. Then again, she's such a friendly stray she's happy to see EVERYONE. So very different from our dogs.

Actually, regarding Plague of Shadows - for a good portion of the book, I was convinced that the botanist-wizard (whose name currently escapes me) was Arcil is disguise. I was actually shocked when there wasn't a twist and Arcil had just been spying via magic.

Hah! I hope that wasn't too disappointing. I also hope that the other twists worked for you.

Howard Andrew Jones wrote:

I generally downplay Elyana's Ranger magic. After the first half of Plague of Shadows I pretty much decided she was a Fighter multi classed with a Ranger, or she'd have to be throwing a lot more spells.

For what it's worth, I thought Elyanna's Ranger casting was right on target. A ranger doesn't really get many spells.

Thanks, Ross. I always thought the Ranger was an odd class. I get the "fighter versed in wilderness lore" business, but I never understood why that fighter should also have some magical abilities. I like some third-party versions of the Ranger I've seen where there are no spell casting abilities worked in.

In any case, with as many combat feats as Elyana has, I calculated that she'd have more spells that would be useful than we see her employing, so I could either have her cast more often (which I didn't want to do because I was more about her being a wilderness fighter than a spell caster) or have most of her levels in Fighter and a few more in Ranger.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: eeeeeee I LOVE the cover art on this one.

Super excited to read it!

Thanks, Liane!

I've loved the cover since I first saw the original pencil sketch!

Berselius wrote:

Quote:

Ooh, I like the cover, too. Is that a drake or a primal dragon?

It appears to me to be an aquatic dinosaur (though I could be wrong on that). It does appear to have some sort of vestigal appendages (perhaps wings) so you might be right on the Primal Dragon guess (aka a Brine Dragon might not be too far off).

I looked in the bestiary and the sea drake might be a good fit. It's hard to say, not seeing a good view of its limbs.

…Sea drake for the win!

Good eye, Albatoonoe.

Actually, you know what my biggest "gamey" hangup is? Letting my spellcasters fly in battle. It's SUCH a standard tactic, and I do it constantly in games, but I never ever let them fly around in novels even when it doesn't make a ton of tactical sense for them to stay on the ground. And it is straight-up because I have a mental block in my head where it's just "NO THEY STAY ON THE GROUND, NO WIZARDS ZOOMING AROUND IN THE AIR, THAT IS FINAL."

I'm not going to change that, I'm just acknowledging it for the record. I know it's a blind spot. I don't care. ;)

I want to throw that question out for everybody else, though: what's YOUR biggest hangup for "gamey" things that you don't want to allow in your stories?

That's pretty interesting. Now that you mention it, flying spell casters seems like a really good way to keep them safe, and yet I can't think of a game I've run where my players did that.

Come to think of it, though, most of my players generally prefer fighters and thieves, or when magic users, like to be multi classed, so have fewer spells. Maybe they don't get high enough to have flying, or only think to use it for special situations.

Or maybe its because I prefer low magic situations and that even gets my players thinking that way. I generally downplay Elyana's Ranger magic. After the first half of Plague of Shadows I pretty much decided she was a Fighter multi classed with a Ranger, or she'd have to be throwing a lot more spells.

Ooh, what's your favorite Zelazny? The pure fantasy of The Changing Land/Dilvish the Damned, or when he mixes it up with the sci-fi in Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, etc.?

Walter Jon Williams, more a cyberpunk writer in his first outing, has a very strong 'Zelazny feel' to him in books like Knight Moves and Aristoi. (They might have met collaborating on the Wild Cards stuff.)

Anywho, other question for anyone; <-ignore misused semicolon

Apart from fantasy, what other genres would you like to write? Sci-fi? Romance? Horror? Historical fiction? Spy thrillers?

I know I'm butting in, but Zelazny got mentioned, so… I must have read the original Chronicles of Amber 9 times or more, which is more than I've read any other book, even books I've scanned and edited. It was hugely important to my development as a writer.

I even sneaked in a reference to Corwin into Plague of Shadows, though I learned later I wasn't supposed to do that…

My first series (through Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's) was historical fiction. Some day I still dream of writing some space opera, but fantasy seems to be where I'm at.

Subparhiggins wrote:

Have any of you ever tried to actually play any of your Tales characters in a Pathfinder game with other people? Or at the very least, made a character sheet for that character?

I created all the central characters for Plague of Shadows although, now that I look through my notes, I think I made some changes that I didn't record on the page.

After that one I mostly just keep track of what kind of spells a spell caster could use at the level I'm intending. Scratch that -- usually I have a spell in mind, and then I see what level a character would have to be to throw that. Following on that, I figure out what other spells the magic using character would be able to wield.

I've never played any of them in a game (I'm almost always the GM in my groups anyway). I've never role-played a female character. Drelm might be fun to run. I'm a huge fan of one of the lizard folk characters in my upcoming book, and I think he'd be a blast to play.

How often do you guys get together (either online or at cons) and think about how your various characters would get along?

Dave and Liane and I had some fun around the end of the last year kicking around a story that involved three of our characters, but it got a little complicated.

I hang out a lot with fellow Pathfinder writers at GenCon but we usually talk more about story process and book writing than we do about combining characters. Maybe it's something we ought to consider more often.

I'll go first. Are amy of you writers of the novels and web fiction serials interested in answering any questions?

And, if yes to the previous question, how did you first come into contact with the Pathfinder setting?

I was one of the editors at Black Gate magazine and ended up handling role-playing reviews. I was consistently impressed with Pathfinder products, and became friendly with Erik and James because I respected their products and because we shared similar interests in regards to fantasy fiction (and in Erik's case, obscure pulp fiction) and also because they're simply great guys.

When James heard I'd landed a novel contract for a fantasy series, he dropped me a line to ask if I'd be interested in drafting a proposal for the upcoming Pathfinder fiction line. Other commitments have kept me from drafting as many Pathfinder books as I've intended in the last few years, but I would certainly like to write more.

If you could write any one story in Pathfinder/Golarion of your choosing, no restraints, no inhibitions, no limitations except those of the setting itself, what would it be?

I pretty much got to do that in the upcoming book, Beyond the Pool of Stars. Down in Sargava there was a lot of room to invent more details about the culture and society, and I got to invent a new sort of adventuring profession as well. I had a blast writing it, and I hope it's as fun to read.

oh man you know what else would be hilarious is if you played cuckoo bird with a dead guy for Raise Dead!

Sculpt Corpse --> Character A looks like Character B --> Character B's buddies pay to rezz him --> loooooooolll

especially if Character B's buddies haaated Character A, or he was just some random collateral victim guy and now it's like "what? you're heroes, you did a good deed! you brought Joe the Random Baker back to life! well done guys! sorry your fighter's dead forever now though, that sucks, well, guess I better resume taking over the world."

okay I'm going to go finish my coffee now.

That's a good story idea...

As a general question to any author interested in answering it:

How many of the other PF Tales books do you read?
How much of the campaign setting stuff? Just the ones covering the area your novel is set in? The whole kit and kaboodle? Something else?

I started out with the desire to keep up, but with two kids and lots of books to write, it fell by the way side. I haven't even read all of Dave's books yet, and at this point I consider him a pretty close friend. So… I've read a handful here and there, but there are plenty of interesting looking ones I haven't gotten to yet.

As to the campaign stuff, there's just too much to keep track of unless its directly related to an area I'm writing in. If it's in an area I'm writing about, I've probably read portions of it multiple times.

I get what you're saying, but I think that the rules surrounding resurrection can be (not always are, but can be) a pretty good story driver.

Those are all great ideas. Yet I keep tripping over the feeling that resurrection as an option feels pretty "gamey." I don't think I ever encountered it in fantasy adventure fiction until role-playing games came out. It's also why, until recently, I've avoided having clerics along during the adventure. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Conan and Corwin didn't have a magical friend who could wave hands and set things right. On the other hand, Corwin had superhuman healing and even regained his vision after having his eyes burned out, so I think it's probably just my personal stumbling block...

How do you pick the respective regions for your books?

Create the story, and then choose the best location for that story?
Or choose a region, and then write the story?

I think Dave pretty much answered it for me. A lot of times something about the region caught my interest and inspired some characters and story. That's what happened in the upcoming books I wrote set in Sargava. With the Elyana books I had rough story ideas and then had to find areas… although as I worked on the plotting, features of the area inspired some of the twists and turns and challenges.

What are some of your favorite authors?

Classic authors are Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett, Harold Lamb, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, and Lord Dunsany.

I won't name Pathfinder novelists because I haven't read all of them, and I'd hate to play favorites among my friends in any case! Outside the Pathfinder stable some of my modern favorites are Scott Lynch, Mark Lawrence, Nathan Long, E.E. Knight. I'll probably think of more the moment I hit "submit post!"

With regard to ongoing series - one of the reasons I don't enjoy them as a reader is that I "know" they're going to survive for the next book. So when they get into dire straits, I don't really wonder if they're going to get through - just how. (The Worldwound Gambit was the only one I remember where I genuinely entertained the idea that the bad guys might win).

Do any of you ever find that as a constraint? (Like "I'd really like to kill Radovan off here, but that's unacceptable") Or are such considerations purely, 100% driven by the needs of the particular story in question?

I kill LOTS of the central characters. The constraint that bothers me is the availability of resurrection magic. When I game, I usually house rule resurrection magic out of the campaign. I think the ability of "extra lives" or a "do over" can destroy story tension pretty easily.

I likewise turn the "magic dial" down for the player characters, a la old school sword-and-sorcery stories, so that most of the really powerful magics are in the hands of the villains.

ROUND THREE (subtitled: yep, I'm still here and still slightly bonkers)

Elyana - Stalking the Beast

...Until I got to L'Artisan's Mechant Loup ("Wicked Wolf"): cedar, sandalwood, honey, maple, myrrh. Perfect!

Originally marketed to men, Mechant Loup was quickly adopted by women who wanted to wear its sweet, smoky blend of woods themselves. On a woman, it projects a certain confidence: sultry and assured, warm but ever so slightly reserved. It was long said to be Penelope Cruz's signature fragrance, and it isn't hard to see why. This is a perfume that conveys strength and sensuality, the confidence born of experience, and a distinct lack of sugary excess.

So that's my pick for Elyana.

Bonus round: Daylah...

Brilliant. Thank you for all the hard work on this. Most of the time Elyana probably would avoid fragrance, because she'd want to disguise her scent (same with Lisette). But when she would apply one I think you've nailed exactly what she'd use. Thanks for this!

And your choice for Daylah is perfect!

Excellent! Thank you for the reply, I'll have to add those suggestions to my reading list. I've read Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed, that was a nice collection of short stories.

My pleasure! I aim to please.

Incidentally, there's a great memoir by an advisor to Saladin -- not my writer friend, but the one who fought Richard the Lionhearted -- titled An Arab Syrian Gentleman at the Time of the Crusades. Don't let the title fool you. It's pretty incredible and full of all kinds of great anecdotes and adventures that this fellow had in the 10th century, from fighting Crusaders, to hanging out with his Templar friends, to hunting lions and all kinds of things.

I posted a few excerpts on my site a couple of years back so people could sample the awesomeness of this little masterpiece:

http://www.howardandrewjones.com/writing/358

Two things come to mind:

As I'm currently reading Arabian Nights and prepping for a Legacy of Fire game, I'd like to read a novel akin to that.

Also, a Mwangi jungle exploration novel.

A Mwangi jungle exploration novel is right around the bend, and I'm looking forward to it almost as much as you probably are.

I'm not aware of any Arabian style novels in the pipeline, although you'll see touches in the novels of James Sutter. Allow me to suggest a few books just outside of Pathfinder Tales for Arabian Nights action: My other series, starting with The Desert of Souls and continuing on with The Bones of the Old Ones and The Waters of Eternity, and Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon.

More from Howard Andrew Jones! A sequel to Stalking the Beast would be great! More novels tied to Adventure Paths - I really enjoyed King of Chaos. How about a contest, where the winner's favorite pc makes a guest appearance in a novel?

Fear not -- I'm just about finished with the second of two new Pathfinder novels right now, and James and I have quietly consulted about another...

Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for helping get the word out. Any chance I can get you to do a spoiler-free write-up on the review page? It only has severn write-ups right now.

Irish Wet Dog wrote:

Radovan is dead dead, but somehow escapes the afterlife. Pharasma makes Salim go find him. Varian finds that the only way to make Radovan not dead dead is to reunite him with his big knife. The Winter Witches have the knife (Long Story). So: Varian hires an adventuring party to go get it. The party includes: Elyana, Gad, Krunzle, Alaeron, and Luma. To get to Irrisen, the party has to take a ship that has a Naga Navigator. While they are waiting at the inn for the ship, they meet a halfling named Tantaerra, and a Goth kid named Isiem. Kagur wants to go with them as well, but they don't let her because a mammoth on a pirate ship would be just ludicrous. Later we find out that Rodrick is also looking for the big knife because (get this!) the big knife is actually intelligent AND Hyrm's long lost son. Hijinks ensue.

Also, somebody from that new dagger book shows up, but I haven't read that one yet, so could be anybody.

Or I like books about clerics and gods, where the gods are characters, A Cayden book would be cool, but I digress.

HA! This is hilarious, and I would totally read that fanfic. :D

That's kind of awesome. It WOULD be cool to do some kind of crossover some time. I wonder how many authors and characters we could work in without it feeling forced or tripping over each other?

Glad you enjoyed it!

I'm planning on a few more short stories with Lisette, and if I continue to have fun with the character I may try a novel with her as the central character.

Thanks for your kind note! I'm really glad that you're enjoying my characters.

I think you'll definitely be seeing both of those ladies once more, although you're likely to see Lisette much sooner. I have in mind a couple of short stories to follow up on "Bells for the Dead" for the Paizo web fiction section, but I'm heads down over the opening book I'm drafting for a new St. Martin's series, and until I finish the rough draft of that I'm staying clear of other projects. (I hope to have the rough done by mid January.)

To my mind, Lisette is ideally suited for a low magic area, or some low magic adventures, and I could see myself writing a series of stories or short novels where she takes on various assignments and then figures out how to get through them when her carefully laid plans go awry. Sort of like heist novels, but with a bounty hunter. My friend C.L. Werner did some great work about an amoral bounty hunter named Brunner, for Warhammer -- any Lisette books would would have a different feel from these, though. (I think Brunner is one of the best sword-and-sorcery creations in modern times, including both regular fiction and tie-in fiction.)

But the next books I pitched to Paizo to write feature new characters in a different part of the world. I'm quite excited about them and I'm eagerly awaiting word from James. If I had THAT much fun just drafting the outlines, I think I'll have even more fun writing them, which usually translates to readers having fun as well.

Thanks for letting me know, Mechalibur.

I just noticed that on the Serial page for Pathfinder fiction, my name isn't listed under Bells for the Dead. Alternatively, you could list Bruce Wayne, which might draw more traffic.

http://paizo.com/pathfinder/tales/serial

I'm really pleased that you're enjoying the story. Thanks for letting me know!

I think you guys and gals have raised some valid critical points. Korra, for instance, just isn't as likable as a central character, and Bolin as comic relief HAS been a bit tiresome.

On the other hand, here at Jones central it's the ONE show that wife, husband and two teenagers all actually look forward to watching together. Despite some gripes, we really quite enjoy it. My wife was even running a sort of combo Avatar/ Full Metal Alchemist:Brotherhood game world for a while that was one heckuva cool campaign.

I think it's gradually been getting stronger. The writing staff seems to be loosening up a bit and getting more capable at showing some character development over the course of the story... and Fitz/Simmons are beginning to be allowed some individual characteristics.

Plus, despite the fact my wife and I pick at it we keep reminding ourselves that ten or twenty years ago we would have been thrilled that ANYTHING like this was on TV. It ain't Firefly, but we're enjoying it.

Hey all,

I "Took Five" over at Suvudu this week and talked about Stalking the Beast. I hope you'll swing by and take a look!

Hey Howard I just started reading this this past weekend and spent 2 hours reading it outloud to my fiancee while we were driving back from a vacation sunday night. It was her first pathfinder tales book and I think she really enjoyed it. After chapter 4 my voice gave out and we had to stop though...and as much as I want to continue I feel it would be unfair to continue with out her. She has the flu right now so there might be more reading tonight after I get off work at 11...

Now that's dedication!

You know, one of the last things I try to do before I ship off a manuscript is read the whole thing out loud to myself, because that's a good way for certain kinds of errors to jump out. Although I usually have to whisper so my voice doesn't give out!

Glad you're both enjoying it, and I hope she feels better soon.

best,
Howard

My vote:

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks for the info, Matthew! Duly noted.